Mobile Suit Gundam:  Shattered Universe
by Sideburnz
Summary: 100 years after the Endless Waltz incident, will a lone pilot, with the help of friends along the way, be able to defeat a seemingly unstoppable foe from another universe?  Or will he die by their hands?  Find out!DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any rights
1. Chapter 1

"They will pay for their inhumane acts of-" The EMF President's speech was cut short by a wrench being thrown into the projection screen.  
"OUR inhumane acts, those bastards attacked us first!" screamed an enraged Lt. Rush McKenny, retrieving the wrench from the shattered screen.  
"Take it easy, Rush," said one of the mechanics helping him make the final adjustments to his mobile suit, Gundam Dreadnought.  
"Yeah, we will all get our revenge soon enough," replied another mechanic, as he replaced a circuit board in the cockpit.  
"I can't stand those war mongerers, calling us barbaric, when they first killed nearly 5,000 civilians stationed on Mars, then opened fire on our blockade fleet, eliminating countless numbers of soldiers, including my friends aboard the Armedia," informed Rush, handing one of the mechanics a piece of metal plating.  
"That is why we, the colonies, have designed these," said one of the mechanics, knocking on the Gundam's armor, echoing throughout the suit.  
"This suit is more than a match at any range against everything in the EMF's arsenal," stated the mechanic, connecting wires in the cockpit.  
"The projectile from the Twin Dober Gun will penetrate any armor the EMF has, so this suit could probably hold its own against scores of mobile suits," commented the other mechanic, pointing to the massive, 2 barreled weapon that was located on either shoulder, nearly touching the deckhead below, almost 60 feet below.  
"Well, everything is complete here in the cockpit," said the mechanic, cleaning up his mess, "Are you sure you can handle this variation of the Zero System?"  
"I have used it in the simulators with no problems, so why couldn't I?" replied Rush, stepping into the pilot's seat, "Why do you ask?"  
"The Zero System is dangerous, and if you aren't prepar-"  
"What, you don't think I'm capable of piloting this mobile suit?" said Rush, with a cocky attitude about his voice.  
"I didn't say that, just that it is still experimental technology and it hasn't been tested in a combat situation, and we didn't use the original plans from the archives," replied the mechanic, packing up his tools.  
Rush strapped himself in and begun activating Dreadnought.  
"Well, we are about to find out," stated Rush, "Get off the suit and activate the captured suits that were turned into drones for these training sessions," he commanded.  
"Yes, Lieutenant," replied both of them, drifting over to the door in the zero-g environment.  
"Now," Rush said to himself, "lets see what this suit is made of."  
The Gundam came to life, the eyes engulfed with green as the activated against the black coloring of the armor around the eyes, and the suit powered up. He tested the motors in the suit, moving the arms, opening and closing the hands, and lifting each leg up and down.  
"Everything seems to be in order," stated Rush, "Begin test in 3, 2, 1..."  
He threw the thruster lever forward, blasting the suit out of the hanger into the test range. His sensors picked up 3 enemy mobile suits.  
"Only 3 suits?" he questioned, jokingly, "well, it is only a test, so here we go."  
He targeted the nearest of the 3, which all had seen him and begun evasive actions. He increased thruster output to counter for the force of the Twin Dober Gun. He fired, putting a round clean through the chest section of the mobile suit, causing it to explode.  
"Recoil isn't too bad for a weapon this size," commented Rush, as he targeted the enemy MS on his left.  
Rush pushed the button on his control stick and used the gattling cannons mounted in the chest. The immense volley of 60mm rounds tore the enemy ms to shreds, then exploding just as the last.  
"I like my guns, I really do," he said playfully.  
The third mobile suit hit its thrusters and lunged at the Gundam, catching Rush off guard. It struck the Gundam, knocking into the ground. The enemy MS took out its beam saber and lunged for Rush. Rush countered by using the twin heat rods that are stored in the shield. He threw them out in a lateral motion, cutting the enemy mobile suit into 3 different sections.  
"Test complete," Rush announced, "Which one of you engineers up there decided to give the last suit more AI than normal? He questioned, using the suit to look at the control deck.  
"You said you could handle it, did you not?" said an engineer, into Rush's communications system, "Our analysis is that the suit is just as we designed it and you are too cocky."  
"I got the job done, didn't I?" replied Rush, maneuvering the Gundam back to the hanger.  
"Yes, but now we have to make repairs to the dented armor and clean the suit, again," said the engineer, irritated by Rush  
"I'll help clean it up and get it ready for deployment, ok?" He said, putting the suit into its original position in the hangar, "Besides, the EMF won't know what hit them, because they will be blinded by a glare, coming off of the polished armor," he added, in his normal manner.  
"Just get out of the suit and clean up," said the engineer, "You will be deployed in a day, maybe 2, so you need rest."  
"Gotcha," replied Rush, walking onto the deck, headed for the hatch to the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Are our mobile suits ready for deployment?" questioned Captain Thomas Fielding, turning to his X.O., LTJG. Richard Priss.  
"Yes, Sir," replied Priss, "Ready to launch on your command." He added.  
"Initiate launch sequence, all hands to combat status," ordered Fielding, "90 degrees starboard, pilot."  
"Yes, Sir," replied the young Ensign Roxxane Summers, rotating the ship's controls to turn the ship a quarter turn, heading for the Side 3 Colonial System.  
"Switch to active radar, anything that isn't EMF, blast it," ordered Fielding, sitting in his chair aboard the bridge.  
"Yes, Sir," returned the Communications Officer, Cmdr. John LeGraud.  
"All of our mobile suits are prepped and ready for launch, Sir" said one of the operators in the mobile suit bay over the intercom on the bridge.  
"Launch all available mobile suits ASAP," he ordered.  
"Yes, Sir" replied the operator, cutting off the intercom.  
"We are now entering Side 3 airspace, activating all online turrets, now," informed the X.O.  
The EMF crusier's turrets came to life, turning, looking for targets. The ship drifted into the airspace with ease.  
"These colonists are either stupid or unsuspecting," commented Fielding to himself.  
The mobile suits started flying out of the launch bays, one after another, until there were at least 15 EMF suits in standard formation, cruising towards the colony.  
"With this cruiser and my mobile suits, I will take over Side 3 just as we did Side 6," thought Fielding.

"ALERT, ALERT, ENEMY FORCES ARE IN OUR AIRSPACE, ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL TO COMBAT STATIONS, I REPEAT, ALERT, ALERT, ENEMY FOCES ARE IN OUR AIRSPACE, ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL TO COMBAT STATIONS, THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL," screamed the alarm throughout the base. Rush fell out of bed, hitting the floor, and grabbing his boots. He ran down the hallway to the hangars and went up to the control room.  
"What's going on," questioned Rush, buckling his belt.  
"We detected an enemy cruiser with at least 10 mobile suits, maybe more, in our airspace," replied one of the radar operators.  
"Do you need me to pilot the Gundam and take them out?" he inquired, putting his glasses on his face.  
"No," replied his C.O., Captain Gregory Hastings, "You will stay here and help the crew in your hangar prep the Gundam for deployment, in case our troops can't hold them off."  
"Yes, Sir," stated Rush, as he saluted and headed back down to the hangar.

"Enemy mobile suits are within range, Sir," informed LeGraud, "at least 25, standard defensive formation."  
"Fire all bow cannons, scramble them," ordered Fielding.  
The cruiser vibrated as the massive particle cannons located in the bow of the ship fired, sending bright, white-hot beams of light towards the formation of Neo-Leos. The Leos took evasive action, scrambling to escape the beams. 3 suits were caught off guard and were vaporized, nothing left at all.  
"3 confirmed kills, Sir," informed LeGraud.  
The remaining Neo-Leos attacked the in-formation enemy mobile suits. Vollies were traded, blows were dealt, and ammunition was spent. In the end of the skirmish, the Neo-Leos were eliminated, while the EMF only lost 4 mobile suits to the USC's 25.  
"That is why space should be ruled by Earth," commented Fielding, "Spacenoids grow weak over time in all aspects, military and civilian.

"Sir, our mobile suits were wiped out, and the cruiser is headed this way," informed the radar operator.  
"Things look grim," thought Hastings, "Is the Gundam ready to be deployed?" he questioned.  
"Yes, Sir, all you need to do is give the word," replied the operator.  
"Initiate Deployment sequence, get that Gundam out of here and on its way to Earth on the double," he commanded.  
"Lt. Rush," said Hastings, over the intercom, "get in that suit and head for Earth, the EMF is on their way."  
He obeyed, jumping into the cockpit as the mobile suit was inserted into a reentry capsule. All of the hangar personnel waited as the door opened, allowing the view of Earth fill their sight.  
"Here I come, you bastards," commented Rush, pushing buttons, and activating the capsule's engines as he drifted into space.

"Sir, unidentified object at high velocity, heading for Earth," informed LeGraud, bringing the capsule on the main screen.  
"It's a reentry capsule," stated Fielding, "They WERE hiding something, maintain current course, send projected coordinates of the capsule's landing point to our ground forces and let them deal with it," he added.  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed LeGraud.  
"90 degrees port, now"  
"Yes, Sir," replied Ensign Summers, turning the ship longside against the area where the capsule launched.  
"Fire all starboard weapons and compensate the recoil with the thruster output," ordered Fielding.  
The cruiser shuddered violently as the numerous beam cannons, missile launchers, and PHALAX system guns fired, causing a tremendous blast in the side of the colony, where the USC MS training facility was at.  
"Target neutralized, Sir," informed LeGraud.  
"Excellent work, people," congratulated Fielding, "Retrieve our mobile suits and inform Solomon that we have eliminated USC resistance and have captured Side 3," he added.  
"Yes, Sir," replied LeGraud.

Rush slammed his fist on the control rest in the cockpit.  
"Damn it, why did I listen to that senile old man, I should have followed my gut instinct and took those bastards out," said Rush, blaming himself.  
"No time to mourn, only more people and friends I need to avenge," he stated, taking his mind off of the tragedy.  
He keyed a combination in on the control panel and released a drone.  
"Let's see them track me now," he said, steering the capsule in the atmospheric reentry.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Sir, I have an unidentified object upon atmospheric reentry," informed a radar operator.  
"That must be the one Fielding told me about," replied his C.O. Lt. George Richardson, "Track it and give me its possible landing zone."  
"Tracking now," stated the operator, "This is the possible landing zone at its current trajectory," he added, handing the Lt. a piece of freshly printed-paper.  
The Lt. ran out of the small communications building and walked over to the garage, right across the path from them.  
"Listen up," the Lt. yelled, "I need some men and vehicles to recover a object that just made reentry from Side 3."  
He attained a jeep, a fast attack vehicle, and 2 troop carriers, containing at least 20 men all together. In convoy they made their way to the crash site, only minutes away. The worn dirt path was fairly smooth from all of the travel by the EMF. After turning off of the path into a field roughly the size of a football field, they saw nothing.  
"Where the hell is it," thought Lt. Richardson, "These are the correct coordinates."  
He circled the vehicles to protect them from any guerrilla attacks, which were quite frequent by locals who despised the EMF. Lt. Richardson hopped off of the jeep and looked around, checking for any sign of the object. He found the rather small dirt trench carved by the object and he found it.  
"What the hell is this?" thought Richardson, look over it, turning it, inspecting the object.  
He flipped it over and saw some writing. He cleared the dirt off of it and was enraged at what he read.  
"Nice try, you bastards, gotta keep looking for me," read the message.  
He threw it down, breaking it.  
"Damn it," yelled the Lt., "this is a decoy, the real capsule has probably already landed somewhere else."

"This new camouflage technology worked perfectly," commented Rush, as he watched the workers at their makeshift base remove the capsule, "They went for the bait and didn't even pick up a trace of me."  
Rush went to the man that was in charge of the camp, Cmdr. John Durrik.  
"Lt. McKenny, reporting for duty, Sir," he stated, saluting a man that was studying maps of the area.  
"At ease, Lt.," replied the man content with the maps, "first name basis around here."  
He looked up, remembering the name from reports a couple days back.  
"You're the Gundam pilot, aren't you?" he questioned.  
"Yes, and I have come for my first assignment," replied Rush, sitting down in a chair in front of the Cmdr's table.  
"Yes," informed the Cmdr., "your assignment will be given to you at the mobile suit maintenance center, just down the path.  
Rush walked out the tent and down the path, looking around at the scenery, since he has never been on Earth before. It looked just as it did in the colony, but you knew this was the real thing, not made by people.  
A man handed Rush some papers.  
"This is your assignment, you have 10 minutes to read it and get going," said the man.

"We found a decoy, Sir," said Richardson, talking to Fielding, via videophone.  
"Based on its trajectory, it isn't far away, so assemble some mobile suits and scout the area for it," replied Fielding, a little miffed by Richardson's blunder.  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed Richardson, ending the conversation.  
Richardson sent 5 high mobility mobile suits to scout the area in which the capsule could be. They canvassed the area, using their upgraded optics for increased range, picking up nothing.  
"Sir, we haven't seen anything and we have been out here for the past hour," crackled a voice over the radio.  
"Return to base," he ordered. "How in the hell can a capsule disappear like that?" he questioned himself.

Rush finished reading the report and hopped in his suit.  
"Are the other suits ready to go?" he questioned, as he strapped himself in.  
"Yes," replied an Ensign, who was finishing attending the Gundam.  
"Alright," said Rush, over the radio channel, "staggered defensive formation, air units, keep an eye out for any activity."  
They obeyed, spreading out in formation, 10 Neo-Leos, and 3 Neo-Zaku High Mobility units, to do recon and patrol of the surrounding area.  
Rush was just getting use to using the Gundam in a gravity environment, since all tests were done in zero G.  
"All scanners are reading clear, no signs of enemy activity within range, Lt." informed one of the Zaku pilots, flying above.  
"Good," replied Rush, "they don't know we are here yet."

"Hey," said one of the pilots on the search party, "I've got something."  
"Enemy mobile suits!" exclaimed another, "How did they get past our radar and scanners?"  
"I don't know," replied the 3rd, "but we need more suits out here to set up a counterattack.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Lt, we are almost done with our recon," informed one of the Neo-Zaku pilots.  
"Good," replied Rush, "We will circle around the perimeter once to make sure we are good to go."  
A shot rang out. It found its way to one of the Neo-Zakus, piercing the chest with ease, causing the mobile suit to explode violently.  
"Damn it, where did that come from," questioned Rush, switching his scanners to active.  
One of the remaining 2 Neo-Zakus fired at the spotted enemy mobile suit. 1 beam destroyed the head, the next went clean through the lower chest of the mobile suit, dropping it to the ground and erupting into a fireball.  
"Multiple enemy mobile suits are around us," informed the other Zaku pilot.  
"We're surrounded!" panicked one of the Leo pilots, who opened fire into the treeline with his beam gattling cannon. The rounds splintered trees and some did find their way to enemy mobile suits.  
"I have 30 enemy signatures on screen, all enemy mobile suits," informed the Zaku pilot.  
"All units, open fire," commanded Rush, as he raised the Twin Dober Gun on his right shoulder with the arm, taking aim at an unsuspecting mobile suit. He fired; the recoil from the gun was intense, because of no compensation for it. The rounds struck the suit with such force, that the remains of it scattered as if they were scrap.  
"All units, fall back, we are outnumbered," said Rush, as he hit his thrusters and flew backwards a little ways.  
The enemy mobile suits came out of the treeline, still firing at the Leos, slaughtering the inferior mobile suits. The Zakus provided aerial support, firing their wing-mounted missiles into the mobile suit ranks, destroying 2, 3, and 4 at a time. The ambush resulted in only Rush and the 2 Zakus left against 12 enemy mobile suits. The circled a nearly exhausted Gundam Dreadnought and opened fire on the Zakus, easily eliminating them.  
"This is not good," thought Rush, as he looked around, surrounded by them as if he was the prey to a pack of wolves.

"Sir, what is that?" questioned one of the EMF pilots, looking at the Gundam.  
"It is a mobile suit, USC, but not a mass produced model," answered his C.O. "Damage it, don't destroy it."  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed the pilot, raising his weapon.

Rush pushed a button and flicked a switch to release the Twin Dober Guns, causing them to hit the ground with tremendous force. He pulled the shield out from behind the back and pulled out his melee weapon, a beam katana. Much like a beam saber, but curved like the ancient Japanese sword, made just as deadly, but with style.  
"Come and get it," commented Rush as he activated the katana, causing a light red, pinkish light to emit from the handle and take on the shape of a katana. Some of the enemy mobile suits took out their beam sabers to duel to Gundam. One attacked from behind, Rush countered, striking the enemy suit with his shield, and then slicing straight down the middle, splitting the enemy suit in half. Rush activated the Twin Heat Rods and used them like whips, throwing them out, cutting mobile suits to pieces.

"Sir, we only have 8 suits left," informed one of the pilots, watching his rounds dissipate on the Gundam's armor, "at this rate, we won't make it back."  
"Keep suppressive fire on the suit," ordered the C.O.

An alarm went off inside of Rush's suit.  
"DANGER: CORE OVERLOAD" read in red letters across his viewscreen.  
"Damn faulty equipment," he commented, slamming his fist against the screen.  
The Gundam deactivated, becoming motionless.  
"Don't do this to me you piece of shit," he yelled, becoming frustrated at the mobile suit.

"Sir, the enemy mobile suit isn't moving," informed a pilot, with relief in his voice.  
"Close in on it and capture it," commanded the C.O.  
"Sir, new contact, 12 0'clock high, coming in fast!" exclaimed a pilot.

The "new contact" is the Gundam Cydra, yet another colony mobile suit that is basically a melee expert. It landed next to Dreadnought, landing on a knee. It stood up, looking at all of the enemy mobile suits that were coming in.  
"You boys just had better back off," said a female voice, "If you knew what was good for you, you'd head back to your base."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Exiting jumpspace in 3, 2, 1, entering real time, now" informed the pilot at the controls.  
"Good," replied the captain, sipping on his coffee mug.  
Cmdr. Brandt released his death grip on his seat, feeling his heart sink back down in his chest.  
"Did you like the ride?" questioned the captain, handing Brandt a cup of coffee.  
"Definitely different," he answered, setting the cup down, allowing it to magnetically attach to the armrest.  
"Takes a while to get used to," replied the captain with a chuckle.  
Brandt stood up with his mug, looking out the bridge's massive viewport, observing what was before him.  
"Well," commented Brandt, "they seem to be making the repairs to the Mars facility and begin using it as a base."  
"Seems that way," replied the captain. "Anyways, this is a far as we can go, you must take your battalion and be on your way."  
"So soon?" questioned Brandt, enjoying his stay aboard the cruiser. "I do need to see how your "gift" performs in the heat of battle."  
"Alright, since your mobile suits are already in transports, just load up your men and you can be on your way," replied the captain, heading for his seat on the bridge.  
Brandt walked to the hatch, letting it whoosh open, and drifted through.

"Who the hell are you?" questioned Rush, still trying to reactivate his mobile suit.  
"No time for small talk," she replied, raising the arm of her Gundam.  
The armor of the forearm folded back, and a 60mm 3-barreled Vulcan rose up, and begun rotating. A tongue of flame came forth from the gun, spraying a line of bullets into 3 of the enemy suits, littering the landscape with scraps of metal. The remaining 5 suits took aim with their rifles and opened fire, only to miss the agile suit as it jumped into the air and hit its thrusters. The Gundam flew straight for one of the suits, throwing out a whip-like device, wrapping it around the suit, and tightened it, ripping it in half at the waist. Rush was amazed at this suits abilities, and the pilot wasn't half bad, to him anyways.  
"Forget this," she said, landing the suit, taking up a wide stance. A piece on the back folded over the shoulder and telescoped out, forming a particle cannon. She fired the statically charged particles, completely obliterating the enemy suits into a cloud of smoke and dust. She folded the weapon back and turned to Rush.  
"Not bad, eh?" she said, playfully, "Try using a different start code, same bug is in my suit from time to time."  
Rush did so, rekeying the system, and the suit came to life.  
"I may be a girl," she informed, "but I know my stuff."  
Rush was not amused, keeping to himself.  
"What's wrong, did I steal your thunder?" she asked, mockingly  
"You could have came sooner and stopped the slaughter that happened," he replied, looking over the field, covered in the remains of the Leos and Zakus.  
"I saved you, I got here as fast as this suit would go," she defended herself.  
"Whatever," commented Rush, "just follow me, base is about 4 clicks that way," he informed, pointing his suit's hand to the east.  
"Lead the way," she said, obeyingly.

Brandt's battalion had just arrived at the Mars facility to get resupplied for the trip to Earth. He knew it would take at least 9 days, maybe more if they ran into any trouble.  
"How are things here?" questioned Brandt, talking to a Lt.  
"We haven't had any problems after the takeover, Sir," informed the Lt.  
"Where is the nearest Side still owned by the USC?" he asked, looking down in the bay as they loaded the mobile suit containers into the ships.  
"Side 7 is," replied the Lt, pointing out the viewport to a cluster of colonies that were heavily guarded.  
"I require any available mobile suits this facility has," requested Brandt.  
"What?" replied the Lt. "You aren't thinking of attacking Side 7 by yourself, are you?"  
"Yes," said Brandt, coolly, "They have been a nusciance for far too long."  
"Sir, it would take a whole armada of cruisers, which are all on duty elsewhere, to take Side 7, and you are attacking with only 4 cruisers?" said the Lt.  
"Do it, I am a superior officer that has given you a command, unless you want court martialed for insubordination," informed Brandt, staring directly into the Lt.'s eyes.  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed the Lt., going to the control center in the middle of the complex.  
"Now to see how my suit fairs in a skirmish," thought Brandt, walking down the corridor to the elevator.

Rush and his new mysterious friend came into view of the camp, walking in their suits.  
"So," questioned the girl, "why were you selected to be a Gundam pilot."  
"I'd rather not talk about it," replied Rush, remembering the tragedy.  
"My father was at the Mars facility when the EMF begun their attack," she informed, "and his friend, Dr. Ciao, took me on as one of his own, and he trained me and built my suit, Gundam Cydra."  
Rush decided to open up to here since the were in common.  
"One of the 50 cruisers sent to Mars to besiege the facility was mine, the Armedia," said Rush, "and none of them made it back. Since I was in MS training, I couldn't go with them, so I completed the course with high scores, and wound up piloting this, Gundam Dreadnought."  
They positioned their suits in the area where all the mobile suits are placed in the maintenance area. Rush opened the cockpit hatch to his suit and stepped out, getting a look at the female pilot. She was about as tall as he was, brown hair, braided in the back, brown eyes, almost a gold color, and she wore not much of a uniform, but it was the same colors as his, a dark, reddish-purple. She had the same boots and gloves as he did also. Rush just looked at here, studying her, as he lowered himself down on the retractable wire lift.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Now," Brandt commented to himself, "Let's see what this suit is capable of."  
He closed the cockpit hatch, sealing himself within the humanoid mech.  
"Control is fluid," he commented, maneuvering the suit to the launch platform.  
He maneuvered the suit's feet into the launch brackets, positioning the suit on the catapult.  
"Sir, I have a green light, ready to launch on your word," informed the operator, ready to launch Brandt's suit.  
"Hit it," he replied, being pushed back in his seat by the force of the catapult, launching him into space.  
Brandt's cruisers weren't far behind as they made their way to Side 7 colony cluster to begin their attack.  
"This suit is remarkable," commented Brandt, as he tested the maneuverability, changing directions rapidly, and strafing with ease. Brandt engaged his thrusters at full power, causing the blue flame already emitted from the boosters to burst into an intense fireball behind the suit, as it only became a shooting star to the cruisers.  
"What...speed..." he commented, barley able to breath under the stress of the suit's speed.  
"Sir, we are losing you on the radar," informed one of the cruiser captains.  
"Just continue to Side 7...that is where I'll be." he replied, disappearing from view into the vastness of space.

The maintenance crews cheered as Rush stepped onto the ground. He didn't look up as passed them.  
"Alright," informed the maintenance manager, "we got work to do."  
The men went to work, getting ammunition, repairing the armor of the Gundams, and replaced the Twin Dober Guns.  
She stepped in front of Rush.  
"I'm Rachel, Rachel Okinawa," she informed, sticking her hand out for a handshake.  
"Rush, Rush McKenny," he replied, returning the shake.  
"Nice to meet you, Rush," she added, warm and friendly like.  
He continued forward, headed to his tent.  
"What's wrong," she questioned, catching up to him.  
"You know damn good and well what is wrong," he snapped, stopping and turning around to her.  
"Don't blame me," she snapped back, "I picked up your signatures on radar and came to investigate, so be lucky you made it out alive!"  
"Just shut the hell up and leave me alone," he yelled, storming off.  
She ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him around, and struck him in the face with a hard right, dropping him to the ground.  
"What the hell is that for?" he questioned, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.  
"You know what," she informed, "You are too proud for your own good, you want to get your revenge and win this war, but you can't stand the fact that you WILL lose men in battle, some you hold dear to you as your best friends. Once you realize that you can't save everybody, maybe you can see the whole picture."  
He lifted himself to his feet, standing there, realizing what Rachel had just said.  
"You read my like an open book," he commented, still wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.  
"I see that my blow has jarred your senses," she added, playfully.  
"For a girl, you hit pretty hard," said Rush, playfully punching her in the arm.  
"You don't have a glass jaw, either," she replied.  
Rush headed for his tent, still thinking about what Rachel said and still feeling the blow she dealt him.

"Come and get it you bastards," yelled Brandt, as he rushed headlong into the USC's defensive line. Brandt used the suits ability to make weapons "appear" out of thin air, brandishing an automatic beam rifle. He opened fire on the hapless cruisers, destroying 4 of them in rapid succession. The remaining cruisers managed to deploy their mobile suits, all forming a defensive line in front of the destroyed cruisers.  
"Hmm...My suit against easily 100 mass produced suits?" pondered Brandt, "should be interesting."  
He fired the rifle in a machine cannon manner, destroying 10 enemy suits before the attacked him. Brandt took damage, but held the suit's arm up as he was hit with rounds. One round had went through the arm, but as soon as it did, the armor started regenerating, covering the hit up, and the suit looked as if it was never touched.  
"What the hell?" thought Brandt, watching this happen.  
He continued the attack, slaying numerous suits and taking out more cruisers. His battalion finally caught up to him, launching the mobile suits.  
"Wait," ordered Brandt, as his battalion stopped behind his angelically-winged suit. "I am giving you the chance to surrender Side 7 to the EMF, or I will continue my attack with my battalion and destroy every single USC unit." he added, hacking into the USC radio frequency.  
"Like hell," replied a voice, obviously a officer.  
"Fine," stated Brandt, "All units, attack and fire at will."  
The EMF suits took off in sets of 5, taking different parts of the battlefield.  
"It is only a matter of time before Side 7 will belong to the EMF," commented Brandt, "Yet, my quest for a worthy adversary continues, I haven't found a pilot that is able to hold his own against me in a duel, and I can't go on knowing there is someone out there better than me until I face them," he thought, watching his men slaughter the USC suits, who are supposed to be space combat experts.

Rush woke up, early, before the sun was up. He headed for the camps showers, basically a tent with running water. He opened the flap to the tent and walked in. He dropped his shower kit, seeing Rachel, bathing.  
He scrambled to pick up his kit and towel, trying to avoid looking and feeling like a pervert.  
"Who's there," Rachel asked, looking in Rush's direction.  
"Only me," he replied, standing up, looking away from her.  
"Don't be shy," she said, "I'm taking a shower, nothing more.  
"I don't want to offend you," he stated, still looking away.  
"Offend me?" she said, "This is the camp's shower, regardless of gender, even though I'm the only female, but still."  
"Ok, if you say so," he replied, headed for the shower stall farthest away from her and facing away.  
"Use this one, I don't mind," she offered, pointing to the one next to her.  
"If you insist," he said, not looking at her.  
He undressed and started the water, which was always cold in the mornings.  
"So," said Rush, starting a conversation, "why did you come to my position yesterday," he added, washing his hair.  
"I had just finished my recon on an area not far from here," replied Rachel, lathering and washing, "and I picked up multiple mobile suit traces on my scanners, faint ones, so I checked it out."  
"I see," he said, rinsing his hair out, "so why are you here now?"  
"I came for you," she answered, rinsing her body, "the second part of my mission was to locate Gundam Dreadnought and the pilot."  
"And?" pondered Rush, grabbing a bar of soap out of his kit.  
"And bring them with me," she finished, turning off the shower, reaching for her towel.  
"To where?" questioned Rush, as he begun shaving.  
"Anywhere our missions take us," she replied, as she begun dressing.  
"And where is the next mission?" he asked, picking up his razor.  
"Here," she informed, pulling up her shorts "we are going to take out that base where those mobile suits came from and establish a definite foothold on Earth for the USC forces."  
"When do we start," he questioned, applying aftershave.  
"As soon as you hurry up," she replied, playfully, sliding on her vest over her black undershirt.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"We surrender!" exclaimed a USC officer, probably a Rear Admiral by the way his uniform looks on the viewscreen. "Just stop this massacre!"  
"Too late for that," reminded Brandt, "I gave you bastards your one chance and you denied it, only to beg for mercy after witnessing your fleet be decimated by my men, you truly are foolish."  
Brandt blocked his signal as he produced a beamzooka, a truly massive weapon. He took aim, trying to get a lock on the flagship of the defensive armada just outside of Side 7 airspace. He charged the weapon, waiting until it reached maximum power.  
"With this shot," Brandt commented, "the EMF will truly begin the conquest of space, guaranteeing our foothold in space."  
He fired the weapon, burning with the white-hot intensity of the sun, and saw the beam hit the ship, and explode in a atomic-like nature, destroying every remaining USC cruiser.  
"Close in and begin the takeover process," ordered Brandt, watching the flash dissipate.

"So," questioned Rush, "is it going to just be you and me attacking this base or what?"  
"Yes," she replied, "I'm pretty sure we can handle it on our own, nothing major is stationed their, besides, we wiped out most of their mobile suits yesterday."  
"What about defenses?" he pondered, his suit walking beside hers, through the trees below.  
"Only a couple AA missile turrets and a stationary Vulcan, from what I can tell from satellite images," replied Rachel, looking through the images on screen as her suit was in Autopilot mode.  
"Only enough to piss us off, right?" he added, playing around.  
"Absolutely correct," she replied with a laugh.

"Side 7 is secure," informed Brandt, patrolling the debris field of the once mighty USC armada stationed there.  
"Good," replied a figure, a Admiral in the EMF, "now we will teach these spacenoids a lesson."  
"What do you mean, Sir?" questioned Brandt, slowing to a stop in space, looking at the viewscreen.  
"Destroy that colony beside you, I know your suit is capable of it," ordered the Admiral.  
"What!" replied Brandt, "Are you crazy? That's murder."  
"All is fair in love and war," quoted the Admiral, "and this is war."  
"I refuse to commit mass murder of innocent people, "informed Brandt.  
"Do it," commanded the Admiral, "or you will be destroyed by your own troops."  
His men targeted him with their mobile suits and his cruisers all had locks on him.  
Brandt looked around, glancing at the mobile suits, one by one.  
"Do it!" yelled the Admiral.  
Brandt took aim with his beamzooka and fired a partially charged round, screaming towards the colony at a high velocity. The round hit the colony close to the middle, igniting in a intense fireball as it struck. The colony split into 2 halves as it was being destroyed by a chain reaction of explosions, all radiating from the center. The remains just drifted in the vacuum of space. Brandt watched in horror, seeing millions of people disappear forever because he followed orders.  
"Good, now those bastards know we mean business," commented the Admiral, "and from now on, you have earned the nickname "The Angel of Death"."  
Brandt shut off his communications equipment, tears rolling down his face.  
"I am a man of honor," he said to himself, "but, never again will I kill anyone who doesn't deserve to die."  
He slowly maneuvered his suit back to his cruiser.

"I'm picking up multiple contacts, coming in fast," informed Rush, scanning the sky.  
A formation of jet fighter flew overhead, screaming past the mobile suits.  
"Those are definitely not ours," commented Rachel, firing quick bursts with the 4 30mm Vulcans mounted in the head unit of Gundam Cydra. She managed to take out 2 of the jets as they flew by.  
The remaining jets, numbering 4, strafed the Gundams, firing their missiles, only to see them explode on the surface, only charring the armor.  
"Piss ant fighters," Rush grumbled, firing with his 60mm Vulcans, killing 3 of them.  
The remaining fighter attempted to retreat, but Gundam Cydra flew up in the air and caught it with the hands of the suit. She crushed the jet, scrunching it up into a piece of scrap metal, and it exploded in her hands. She landed the Gundam, scanning the area for more enemy units.  
"I'm not picking up anything," she informed.  
"Guess it was a wrong place, wrong time deal," replied Rush, "the base isn't far, but we must continue walking to stay under radar."  
"I know, but this is taking to long," she stated, "and we are vulnerable out here."

"Why did I listen to him," Brandt questioned himself, hitting a panel in his cabin, denting it.  
"At this rate," he stated, "I honestly don't know who is truly the victor in this skirmish," he added, looking out his viewport, observing the remains of Colony S7-CN0023, the now lifeless remains drifting in space. He closed his viewport and sat on his bunk. As he sat down, his personal communicator activated, it was the captain of the jumpdrive cruiser.  
"So," he questioned, "did the suit perform how you wanted it to?"  
"Yes and no," replied Brandt, "It did everything I wanted it to, but I was used as a pawn to commit mass murder of civilians."  
"I see," answered the captain, "Did you like the little feature we added before you left?"  
"Yes, the suit repaired itself without tools or anything, how does it do that?" pondered Brandt.  
"Just like most of our technology," informed the captain, "it is a secret, no one else, including you, can know about it."  
"Ok," replied Brandt, disappointed.  
"Glad you like it," finished the captain, "Hope to see you in the future, "Angel of Death".  
A cold chill ran down Brandt's spine.  
"How did he know that?" he thought, "There is no way he intercepted that signal, unless it is more of their special technology, still, pretty creepy."

"Ladies first," offered Rush, as they were within attack distance of the base, still undetected.  
"Why," she replied, "you truly are a gentleman," she added, thrusting forward.  
She used a beam pistol to destroy a number of the AA missile sites in rapid succession.  
"Not bad, eh?" she commented, holding the pistol up.  
"Nice shootin' Tex," he replied, "but look out, I've got a REAL Gun."  
He fired the Twin Dober Gun, clearing a path through the trees and thought the base's defensive wall.  
"Well," she replied offended, playing, "remember, it's not the size of the gun, it's how you use it."  
"Ohhh, burn," he added with a laugh, thrusting through the freshly made hole in the wall, with Rachel not far behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Fielding walked the bridge, surveying it. He looked up, out the front viewport of the cruiser, seeing the one of the many massive colonies that made up Side 3.  
"Sir, I have received a transmission from Admiral Joesphf Bently," informed LeGraud.  
"Bring it up on screen," replied Fielding, looking up where the screen appears.  
"Fielding," spoke Bently with a heavy English accent, "smashing job on the Side 3 takeover."  
"Thank you, Sir," replied Fielding, "only doing my job."  
"Keep up the good work and I will put you in for a promotion at Headquarters," congratulated Bently.  
"That is very generous of you, Sir," answered Fielding, awestruck by Bently's gesture.  
"Can't wait for you and your crew to return to Solo-" said Bently, being cut short by violent hit to the cruiser's starboard engine.  
Fielding lost his balance, falling down, and striking his forehead of his chair, splitting his brow open. He climbed to his feet as the ship rotated port from the hit.  
"Where the hell did that come from," questioned Fielding, wiping blood from his brow.  
"Heading 2-2-3, starboard," informed LeGraud, bringing the image up on screen.  
A lone USC cruiser appeared, headed straight for them.  
"Damage report," ordered Fielding, blood dripping from his wound.  
"Starboard engine is at 10 capacity," informed Priss, looking at a diagram of the ship on a screen.  
Another USC cruiser appeared, then another, and then another.  
"Sir, multiple enemy cruisers are appearing out of nowhere," said LeGraud.  
"They must be using cloaking devices," thought Fielding, "All hands to combat status, this is not a drill," he commanded.  
"Activate all online cannons," stated Priss, watching the USC Cruisers close in on the crippled EMF ship.  
The cannons began firing at the enemy cruisers, slowing them down, but not destroying them because of superior shielding.  
"Cannons are ineffective, Sir," said Priss, watching the beams dissipate on the enemy cruisers.  
"Ensign, hard starboard, 90 degrees," commanded Fielding, his uniform spattered with blood from his brow.  
"Yes, Sir," replied Ensign Summers, maneuvering the cruiser into a headlong state against the enemy ships.  
"What are you doing, Sir," questioned Priss, running up to him across the bridge.  
"Saving our asses," replied Fielding.  
"I know what you are thinking and it is suicide," informed Priss.  
"Don't question my authority, LTJG. Priss," Fielding replied with a stern look.  
"I know my place, Sir, but, this will get us killed for no reason," conversed Priss.  
The Captain pulled out his service automatic and pointed it in Priss's face, unlocking the safety.  
"I suggest you stand down, Priss," informed Fielding, "I am in charge, not you."  
Priss backed away from Fielding, hands up.  
Fielding holstered his pistol and continued control of the ship, all eyes darting back to their stations.  
"As soon as those enemy cruisers are in range, fire the bow cannons at full capacity, divert all sub-critical power to front shields," commanded Fielding, sweating from nervousness.  
The crippled EMF cruiser fired the cannons, 2 white-hot streaks of light hit the lead USC cruiser, creating a fireball that quickly subsided in the vacuum of space.  
"One confirmed kill, Sir," informed LeGraud.  
"Continue targeting sequences on all remaining enemy vessels," said Fielding, watching the cannons obliterate another cruiser.  
The USC cruisers returned fire in barrage style, most beams dissipated on the EMF cruiser's shields, but a few found their way to the hull of the ship, creating craters in the hull.  
"Airlock breaches in sectors 1,2, and 5, Sir," informed LeGraud, studying the ship diagram.  
"Seal all airlocks and hatches, emergency lockup status," replied Fielding, looking at LeGraud.  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed LeGraud, keying in sequences on the computer.  
The remaining 4 USC cruisers were closing in on the EMF ship.  
"Sir, main cannons are offline," informed Priss, coming back to his post, "they are in cooling sequence now, next firing sequence is E.T.A. 3 minutes."  
"Damn it," swore Fielding, pounding his fist on his bridge chair.  
3 of the enemy cruisers ruptured violently into fireballs, sending debris through space.  
"Where in the hell did that come from," questioned Fielding, as the source came on screen.  
"Sorry we took so long," said a captain of one of the reinforcement cruisers, one of nearly 40, all coming in to guard Side 3.  
"Thank God you came," replied Fielding, his ship badly damaged.  
"You guys look like hell," replied the Captain, "We will come link up and help you out,"  
"Gladly," replied Fielding, sitting down in his chair.

"Time to silence these guys for good," commented Rush, as he took aim with Gundam Dreadnought's Twin Dober Gun, firing 2 rounds at the communications array, leaving nothing more than a smoking crater.  
"Our work here is almost done," commented Rachel, destroying several tanks with Vulcan fire.  
"I'm picking up nothing else on my scanners," informed Rush, looking at his radar screen.  
"I'll send a transmission to camp to come in and take over," replied Rachel.  
"So, now what?" questioned Rush, look around at the havoc they just reeked.  
"Follow me," said Rachel, as she hit the thrusters in her suit and took off through the air.  
"Right behind you," replied Rush, taking off in the same manner as Rachel did.  
"Where we going?" questioned Rush after a brief period of silence, as they skimmed the treetops at high speed.  
"To the next meeting point Dr. Ciao sent me the coordinates to," she replied, sending him the coordinates to his suit's HUD.  
"Gotcha," said Rush, cruising right behind her.

"How much longer until we reach Earth?" questioned Brandt, watching space debris from past ages fly by.  
"At our current speed, we should be in Earth's atmosphere within 4 days, maybe 3, but that is pushing it, Sir," replied the pilot, studying his control panel.  
"Set this ship to Autopilot at this speed, we shouldn't have any problems with space scum, if you know what I mean," commented Brandt, turning towards the pilot.  
A Comm officer approached Brandt, holding a data disk.  
"What's this?" questioned Brandt, taking it from him.  
"A report from a Captain Thomas Fielding," replied the Comm officer, "it must be important, it came all the way from Side 3."  
"That is a good distance from here to send to me, so let's see," Brandt commented, putting the disk into his personal PDA.  
The disk contained everything from the beginning attack on Side 3 all the way up until the reinforcements from Solomon arrived, including the unidentified reentry capsule the MS training facility launched.  
"Wow," commented Brandt, scrolling through the report, "a lone, battle-damaged cruiser against 8 USC Heavy cruisers, and survived, I must meet this Captain Fielding."  
"What do you think was in that capsule, Sir?" questioned his X.O., walking over, interested on what was going on.  
"Probably a prototype mobile suit they didn't want us to see or capture," replied Brandt, "they think we are stupid."  
"Anyways," continued the X.O., "about your suit."  
"What about it?" questioned Brandt, looking at him funny.  
"Nothing is wrong," replied the X.O.," it is just that we haven't touched it since you returned from Side 7, so no repairs or resupplies have been undertaken on it."  
"Don't worry about it," said Brandt, "I have it under control, just keep anyone who doesn't have clearance to that bay away from it, which includes everyone except me, you, and my personal maintenance crew."  
"Yes, Sir," replied the X.O., continuing his routine checks on the bridge.  
"Earth," thought Brandt, "I haven't seen it in nearly a year, being out here, usually patrolling the ass end of nowhere, can't wait to get home."

Rachel stopped and landed Gundam Cydra in a small clearing, just big enough for her suit to fit in.  
"Here we are," she commented, looking around with her suit.  
"Ok," replied Rush, confused, "what now?"  
All of a sudden, her suit disappeared below the treeline.  
"Where did you go?" Rush questioned, not knowing how in the hell she did that.  
"Step forward about 20 feet and you will find me," Rachel keyed in over the communication system.  
He did so, his suit fell on its back almost, and begun sliding down an almost vertical rock wall.  
"Holy shit!" exclaimed Rush, trying to keep the suit from slamming into the ground below.  
He landed the suit, almost destroying the servo motors located in legs from the impact.  
"Easy, killer," commented Rachel, deactivating her suit and opening the cockpit, "we don't have the supplies to make field repairs."  
"I could have used a little more warning though," replied Rush, beginning the shutdown sequence on Gundam Dreadnought.  
He lowered to the ground on the wire lift, looking at the rain forest like tree canopy above them.  
"Perfect hiding spot," informed Rachel, walking towards him, "The rock formations mask our signatures on radar."  
"So," replied Rush, " we are basically invisible, correct?"  
"Yep," stated Rachel, "Go look for some firewood while I start setting up camp."  
"Ok, be back in a little while, just call my radio if you need me for something."  
"Don't take forever," she warned, "It gets cold fast around here."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Good God!" exclaimed Rush, as he lifted a large branch, finding a rather large snake beneath it.  
He jumped back as it curled up into a striking position.  
"I don't need this," commented Rush, backing away from it, "first a war, and now this."  
He left the area and headed back to the clearing where the suits were at, about 200 feet from him.  
"This is definitely a better surrounding than the artificial scenery within the colonies," he commented, gazing at the trees above.  
He tripped over a rock in the path, dropping his arm full load of wood, and hitting the dirt, face first.  
"Damn it," grumbled Rush, wiping dirt off of his face and gathering his load of firewood.  
Rush rose to his feet, stepping over the rock, and continued on his way.  
He entered the clearing, seeing that Rachel had been hard at work. There was a tent set up, in between the suits, all the needed supplies were unpacked and in place, and she had fresh water in a container on the table right outside of the tent.  
"Wow," commented Rush, looking at the tent, "seems like you have been busy."  
She stepped outside, wearing only here shorts and undershirt.  
"Not really," she replied, seeing his arm full of firewood, "you look like you had a fight with a tree to get that wood," she added, looking up at his dirty face.  
"Yeah," he replied, embarrassed, "I won, as you can tell," he finished in a playful manner.  
"Just put it over there and take a break," she said, pointing next to the freshly made firepit.  
Rush did so, setting it down, and plopped down in one of the chairs to the table. Rachel handed him a cup of water.  
"So," Rush started, "how long are we staying here?"  
"Don't know," she answered, "depends on what Dr. Ciao says."  
"He is the one who gives you orders, right?" questioned Rush, taking a sip of water.  
"Right," replied Rachel, sitting down in the other chair, "He tells me what to do, so it gets passed down to you."  
"How long have you known this guy?" asked Rush, setting his cup down.  
"About 8 years," answered Rachel, looking at Rush, "Since my father died, he has been like a father to me."  
"I see," stated Rush, "must be hard for you."  
"It is," she said, sadly, "I think about him almost everyday."  
Rush stood up, and started walking towards Dreadnought.  
"Where you going?" questioned Rachel, watching him walk towards his suit.  
"Nowhere," he replied, continuing walking.  
Rush hoisted himself up on his suit with the lift and jumped around to the back of the suit. He pulled out a chest-sized box that was attached to the suit. He pulled out a small rod with a round object on it. He jumped down, closing the cabinet, and it slid back into the suit. He walked towards the stream that went past the clearing.  
"What do you have?" asked Rachel, never seeing anything like it in her life.  
"This?" replied Rush, holding it up, "A fishing rod," he added, extending it out with the push of a button.  
"What are you going to do?" she questioned, watching walk towards the stream.  
"Fish, of course," he replied, "Have a fire started when I come back."  
"Who the hell does he think he is, giving me the crap jobs while he has fun," she thought, slightly peeved by Rush.

"Sir," informed LeGraud, "one of the USC cruisers escaped."  
"No matter," replied Fielding, as a medical officer was stitching his wound, "Unless the are incredibly foolish, they won't attack being this severely outnumbered."  
"Hold still, Sir," said the young, female medical officer, still stitching the wound, "I can't stitch it correctly if you keep moving."  
"Sorry," he replied, looking at her, holding his head straight.  
Priss was studying screens, assessing the ship's situation.  
"X.O." stated Fielding, the Med officer finished with his wound, "come here for a minute."  
Priss walked over to him, still holding his clipboard style PDA system.  
"Yes, Sir?" questioned Priss, as if nothing happened.  
"About earlier, when we were attacked," said Fielding.  
"Think nothing of it, Sir," replied Priss, "You knew what you were doing and it seemed like the odds we're stacked against us."  
"Not that," answered Fielding, "the gun thing."  
"Again," stated Priss, "You were doing what you thought was right at the time, and I did seem a little mutinous at the time, also."  
"I was completely out of line, Richard," informed Fielding, sincerely.  
Priss knelt down next to the Captain.  
"Don't worry about it," he said, quietly, "I understand, this is your ship, you're the captain, not me."  
"Anyways," said Fielding, "back to business, status report."  
"We are still at 10 capacity on the starboard engine, 80 on the port because of cooling issues from overuseage, main cannons are offline for repairs, multiple hull breaches, main shields are drained, back up shields are critical, air leaks from some of the hull breaches, and all sub-critical systems are offline due to power outage," informed Priss, scrolling through his PDA system.  
"What is our combat effectiveness?" questioned Fielding, just to hear how bad the ship's condition is.  
"Until repairs are made," said Priss, reading his PDA, "we are currently at 31 combat effectiveness."  
"I guess it is time to link up with the Solomon fleet and get some repairs," stated Fielding, with a laugh.

"So," asked Rachel, "any luck?"  
"You tell me," said Rush, setting 3 big fish down on the table where he had laid a newspaper.  
"Wow," she commented, looking at the fish, "those are pretty big."  
"Nothing really," stated Rush, proud of his work.  
"Good, now what?" she asked, seeing how Rush wanted them prepared.  
"I'm thinking some sushi and put one over the fire," he said, "I'll prepare the sushi, you can grill this one."  
Rachel did so, picking up the fish, quickly skinning and filleting it, and put it on the grill rack over the firepit she had set up earlier. Rush was cleaning the fish, almost ready to make rolls out of the fish.  
"Where did you learn how to fish?" asked Rachel, rotating the fish on the fire.  
"Not where," informed Rush, cutting up the fillet, "my father taught me how."  
"I see," she replied, watching the fish cook.  
"Yep, he taught me a lot of things," added Rush, rolling some of the sushi.  
"Do you see them often, your parents I mean," questioned Rachel, taking the fish off of the grill.  
"Not since I joined the USC military," he answered, "I don't make it out to Side 7 that often anyways."  
"Side 7," she stated, looking at him, "my parents used to live there, what colony was it, mine was S7-CN0045."  
"S7-CN0023," answered Rush, setting the prepared sushi down on the table, "when this madness is done and over with, I will be paying them a visit."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Brandt, dying of boredom from the standard trip from Mars to Earth, made his way to his private bay. Walking down the corridor to his bay, various men would salute as he passed, stopping whatever they were doing. Brandt returned the salutes, continuing on his way. The airlock doors whooshed open after he swiped his clearance card on the control panel next to the door. He walked through, the doors closing behind him in the same manner. The bay lights activated, coming on row after row after row, until they illuminated the entire bay, and his suit. It seemed to glow against the dark background, the light reflecting off of the wings seemed almost holy in a sense.  
"Well," commented Brandt, looking at the suit, "looks good as new, not a scratch on it."  
He ran his fingers across the cold, smooth armor, and opened the cockpit. Brandt stepped in, looking for some kind of idea on who actually built this suit.

Rush finished his meal, leaning back in his seat, looking up at the evening sky.  
"That was good," commented Rachel, finishing hers, taking care of the garbage.  
"Why thank you," replied Rush, looking over at her, "glad somebody likes sushi."  
She returned from the disposal bin by the tent and sat down, taking out a small metal box.  
"You studied any martial arts?" she questioned, putting the box on the table, "you look like you do."  
"Black belt in Karate, nothing major," he replied with a funny look, "You? And why are you asking?"  
"I am a master in Tae Kwan Do, Jiujutsu, and Mai Tai," she informed, confidently, "I didn't have much of a life."  
"Wow," he said, surprised, "but that still doesn't answer my question."  
She pulled out 2 pairs of sparring gloves and feet guards.  
"Because I need someone to spar with me," said Rachel, "I usually practice or spar with someone everyday, and you are the only one here."  
"Not right now," Rush groaned, "I just got done eating."  
"So did I," she said with assurance in her voice, "it isn't bothering me."  
Rush thought it over, not wanting to get sick, but not wanting to appear a coward to her. He picked up his protective gear off of the table and begun putting it on.  
"Ok," he agreed, "only a few, don't want to wear myself out, and besides, I still owe you one, remember?"  
She looked up at him after strapping on the feet guards.  
"You can try," she challenged, standing up and stretching.  
Rush did the same, stretching to prevent pulling muscles.  
"What style do you want me to use?" questioned Rachel, completing her stretching.  
"I don't care," replied Rush, waiting for her to finish.  
She began using the Mai Tai starting stance, an Asian form of kickboxing that is devastating if performed correctly.  
"Mai Tai, I see," observed Rush, taking up his defensive stance.  
"Ready whenever you are," Informed Rachel, as she began circling him.  
He did the same, circling. After completing at least one circle, Rush was the first to attack. He lunged at her with a closed fist strike, directed to the chest. She countered by grabbing his fist, throwing him forward, and striking him in the upper back with a roundhouse kick. Rush staggered forward, dazed by the blow.  
"Again," he commented, "not bad, for a girl."  
"Don't underestimate me, Rush," she warned, waiting for him to get into position again.  
He did so, bowing to show he was ready. He attacked again, with a softer strike, meant to distract. Rachel blocked it, countering with a light jab, only to be blocked by Rush's other hand. Rush saw his window of opportunity, and struck her in the abdomen with his first attack hand, sending Rachel to the ground.  
"Not bad, not bad," she said, picking herself up, appearing unphased at all by the blow, "but if that is the best you can do, you are in trouble."  
"We will see about that won't we?" he replied, allowing her to get up.  
Rachel struck first, using a combination of jabs, keeping Rush at bay. She surprised him with a low sweeping kick that knocked him off balance, and she slammed him to the ground with a backhanded strike to the face. Rush hit the ground, dazed, tasting blood in his mouth. Rachel saw the blood, fearing that she severely hurt him.  
"Maybe we should stop," said Rachel, looking at Rush.  
"I'm good," he said, standing up, spitting blood out of his mouth, "that is twice you have made me bleed."  
"You deserved it the first time," she replied waiting for him to start again.  
"I know," said Rush, still spitting blood, "but was it necessary the second time?"  
"Sorry," she said, "You still want to spar?"  
He took up his beginning stance again.  
"I will take that as a yes." she stated, taking up hers.

Admiral Bently came on screen, seeing the deck of the cruiser in disarray.  
"Good lord," he commented, "What on Earth happened here?"  
Fielding came onto the bridge, bandage still above his eye.  
"Just a little skirmish, Sir," he said, saluting the Admiral.  
"Not from what I am reading on these reports, Fielding," replied Bently  
"We would be dead if the ships I requested hadn't shown up when they did," informed Fielding, taking a seat in his chair on the bridge.  
"Glad to hear," replied Bently, "Anyways, onto business matters. Commander Brandt is supposed to be meeting with you by the end of the week.  
"THE Commander Brandt?" questioned Fielding, remembering stories of Brandt's fighter days.  
"The one and only," replied Bently, "he is pleased with your performance here at Side 3 and would like to meet you face to face."  
"I would be honored," stated Fielding, fixing his cufflink on his uniform.  
"After that," informed Bently, "your cruiser is to pull patrol duty on Solomon, along with your promotion to Commander Junior Grade."  
Fielding was astonished, not many cruiser captains make it past that, captain, and Solomon patrol to boot. It would be a vacation compared to what he is doing now, with a raise in his salary to boot.  
"Thank you, Sir" said Fielding, standing and saluting to Bently as the screen turned off. He turned to the various people aboard the bridge.  
"You hear that, crewmen?" he questioned, "We are pulling Solomon duty."  
His crew cheered, happy to baby-sit the ass end of nowhere for 6 months at least. No USC fleet has the firepower, nor the strategy to attack Solomon, so the airspace is clear, besides random areas of debris from past conflicts.  
Priss walked over to Fielding, saluted, and handed him a report.  
"List of all repairs needed to make this ship 100 combat effective, Sir."  
Fielding flipped through, seeing various damages, some major, others minor.  
"All critically damaged areas are to be repaired first in descending order of priority," commanded Fielding, putting his know-how to work, being a cruiser captain for a decade at least.  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed Priss, walking to the command panel of the cruiser and sent the message to the engineers from the other cruiser that were helping in the effort.

After many attacks and blocks, Rush finally threw Rachel off balance, and delivered a powerful blow to the sternum, sending her end over end. She rolled to a stop, face up, stunned by the fearsome attack. He ran over to her, seeing if she was ok.  
"Are you alright?" he questioned, seeing her holding the area he delivered the blow to.  
"Yeah," she coughed, "could you help up?"  
He lowered his hand, allowing her to grab a hold of it, and she flipped him over her, throwing him into the ground. Rachel stood up, looking at Rush.  
"Never let your guard down," she said, playfully.  
"I really thought you were hurt though," he said, standing up, wiping dirt off of his back and pants.  
"So," she replied with a shrug, "in martial arts, never let your guard down."  
"Whatever," said Rush, unstrapping the guards  
"Don't get all pissy because I whopped your sorry ass," she scowled, "I don't know what your problem is, you did a lot better than anyone else I sparred with."  
"It's not that," he replied, "I just have too much pride for my own good."  
"Well," she said, "at least you are man enough to admit something like that."  
She put up her box in the tent, sliding it underneath of her cot. Rush grabbed his shaving kit and towel and headed towards the stream. Rachel wasn't far behind him.  
"Umm," questioned Rush, turning around and stopping, "what are you doing?"  
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, passing him up.  
"I have never met anyone quite like her," thought Rush, following her, as she continued strolling towards the stream, "she really knows how to get underneath of my skin, but still be this cheery, friendly person."  
She dropped her shorts, Rush turned around.  
"Not this again," she said, "I told you, I don't care, don't be shy."  
"There is no divider this time though," he replied, his back to her.  
"So," she said pulling her undershirt off, "it's not like you are a perv or something, so I don't care, I need to bathe, and so do you."  
Rush finally agreed, setting his towel and kit down, undoing his belt buckle. Rachel had already stripped down and slid into the stream, which was just deep enough in this pool to sit in. The bottom was made of shale, so no worries about sand or things in the sand crossed her mind. Rush finally stripped and got in.  
"Not that I am not enjoying myself or anything, but what is the next mission?" questioned Rush, scrubbing his head.  
"The next mission?" replied Rachel, doing the same, "I have the report in my case under my cot, so you will find out when we get done. In the meantime, just enjoy your surroundings."  
Rush did so, just looking around, sometimes glancing over in Rachel's direction when she wasn't looking.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Fielding walked the bridge of the battle-scarred cruiser, watching his crew work tediously around the clock to get the ship back to 100.  
"Don't worry, people," said Fielding, sipping on a cup of fresh coffee, "After the repairs, we are basically on vacation."  
They all knew, so that just made them work that much harder. Fielding exited the bridge, walking down the corridor to the rear of the ship, his mug still in hand. Crewmen working on access hatches in the corridor saluted him as strode past. Fielding returned the salutes, continuing on his way.  
"Time to see how the engines are doing," thought Fielding, "damn, this is good coffee," he added, taking another sip.  
He entered the engine bay, which was in complete disarray from the attack. Parts were strewn about, wires hanging out everywhere, the men suffering from fatigue working around the clock to get the engines at full power.  
"So," questioned Fielding, "what's the word."  
A man with a PDA, covered in grease and grime, walked over to Fielding.  
"Not good, Sir," replied the man, "The starboard engine is shot, the main reactor is cracked and leaking, so full repair is impossible. We are trying to fix the leak to get us some sufficient power. The hull, as you can see, has been repaired, which used to be a gaping hole there. I recommend a complete overhaul of the engine bay, both port and starboard when we dock at Solomon for supplies."  
"I fully agree with you on that," said Fielding, nodding, "Keep up the good work, any power is better than no power."  
"Yes, Sir," stated the man, saluting, and continuing his work.  
Fielding made his way back to the bridge, passing the same people in the corridor. He went through the airlock and sat in his deck chair, thumbing through reports of activities in the area. Priss handed Fielding a data disk.  
"A urgent message from Commander Derril Brandt," informed Priss, looking exhausted from lack of sleep.  
"Thanks, X.O.," replied Fielding, inserting the disk into his PDA, "Take a rest, X.O., you need it," he added, looking into Priss' sleepless eyes.  
"Thank you, Sir," said Priss, handing his work to a junior officer, and headed to his cabin.  
The data disk contained a video recording of Brandt, speaking about Fielding.  
"Captain Thomas Fielding," said Brandt, on the video, "I have read some astonishing things about you and your crew."  
Fielding continued listening to the recording.  
"I am so pleased with your performance, that I will be making a personal appearance before I land on Earth, to meet a cruiser captain of your integrity is an honor for anyone," the recording ended abruptly.  
"Can't wait to meet the Cmdr. Brandt, I mean it is THE Cmdr. Brandt, the best fighter pilot, turned MS pilot in the EMF," said Fielding, closing his PDA.

"Not that I don't like it here or anything," commented Rush, dying for some action, being stationary for 3 days straight, "but when are we going to actually fight in this war or what?"  
"Stop your bitching," snapped Rachel, "man, you are the most whiney person I have ever met."  
"ME?" replied Rush, offended, "You are like a freaking psycho."  
Rachel turned and locked eyes with Rush.  
"Don't make me whip your ass, again, for the 3rd time," she said, calmly.  
"I let you win," defended Rush, "I couldn't concentrate."  
"Just admit it," Rachel stated, "I am better than you at some things, get over it."  
"No," he said, standing up, "you cheated," using the lamest excuse.  
"Now you are just being egotistical," she stated, "You can't stand to lose, can you?"  
"I accept defeat when it needs accepted, not forced, especially when you cheated," Rush informed.  
"1, I didn't cheat, 2, I am right, and 3, the worst of it is, I am a girl, that is what eats at you, doesn't it?" She said, toying with his mind.  
Rush just looked at her, it was almost as she could read his mind at times.  
"You are freaky," commented Rush, headed for his suit.  
"Where are you going?" she asked, "You aren't leaving until I get another message from Dr. Ciao."  
"Don't worry," he replied, hopping up onto the suit, "I'm just checking a few things."  
Rush turned on his suit's computer, opening his access to USC reports. Rush saw something that caught his eye:

"S7-CN0023 DISASTER, MILLIONS DEAD"

"What the hell?" thought Rush, "This can't be real, the Side 7 Armada would have slaughtered any EMF attackers.  
Pictures from surrounding colonies revealed the horror; a lone EMF suit destroyed the colony, killing numerous civilians. Rush was frozen with hate, anger, and agony, unable to move.  
"Mom...D-Dad," he said softly, his eyes mystified with tears.  
A picture of Brandt's suit filled the display screen.  
"You will die by my hands," gritted Rush, "I will avenge my parents."  
Rush controlled himself from damaging anything around him. He turned everything off, came out of the suit, acting like nothing ever happened. Rachel walked over from the campsite, seeing what he was doing. Rush walked slowly over to Rachel, his head low. She stopped, noticing something was wrong. Rush leaned on her, embracing her with a hug.  
"What's the matter, Rush," questioned Rachel, knowing he never acts like this.  
"They killed them," said Rush softly, tears forming in his eyes.  
"Who? Who killed who?" questioned Rachel, confused.  
"The EMF, they killed my parents, along with the population of S7-CN0023," replied Rush, crying softly.  
Rush fell to his knees, Rachel kneeling down with him.  
"Why?" questioned Rush, "Why must I suffer like this, everyone I know and love is dead, so what is the point of living if I am miserable?"  
"Don't talk like that," Rachel said, resting his head on her shoulder, "I know it is hard, but you will have your chance, but that won't fix what has happened."  
Rush enjoyed Rachel's company, feeling worth again.  
"Rachel?" he asked, saddened  
"Yes, Rush?" she replied, looking into his eyes.  
"If it weren't for you, I'd probably would ha-"  
"Don't say anything else," she interrupted, "You are too good for that."  
"Actually," Rush said, comforted by Rachel, "not everyone is gone."  
"Glad to hear," She replied, trying to cheer him up, also knowing what he meant.

A communicator ringing signal sounded loudly, echoing off of the metallic walls.  
Brandt awoke in his cabin, groggy.  
"Cmdr. Brandt?" said a man's voice on his personal communicator.  
"Speaking," replied Brandt, picking up the device.  
"Have you arrived on Earth yet?" questioned the man.  
"No," said Brandt, recognizing the voice, "we don't have ships like you do."  
"I see," replied the man, "keep forgetting about that, sorry."  
"No problem, "Brandt replied, "and before you say it, no, I haven't piloted the suit since Side 7."  
"What I was going to say," the man stated, irritated, "was my actual name is Cmdr. Serge."  
"Ok," said Brandt, "why do I need to know this?"  
"For future conversations," informed Serge, ending the discussion.  
Brandt shut his communicator, rolled over, and fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Sir," informed Brandt's Comm. officer, "EMF cruiser is on scanners, coming into range,"  
"Fielding's cruiser?" questioned Brandt, lifting himself out of his chair.  
"Yes, Sir," replied the Comm. officer, checking the registration on file with the ship's signature.  
"Link us up," ordered Brandt, "I'm boarding it as soon as we do," he added, walking for the airlock at the rear of the bridge.

"I don't know what to do," thought Rachel, as she checked the systems in her suit, "I know how it feels, but I can't just tell him to get over it."  
She bit her lip, pondering upon her next move.  
"At least he didn't watch it happen like I did," she thought, running the suit's computer through a simulation.  
"What's this?" questioned Rachel, seeing she had a message from Dr. Ciao.  
She closed it out and jumped out of the cockpit to the ground, running for the tent.  
"Rush! Rush!" she yelled, holding a printed-out copy of the message.  
She opened the tent, nobody to be seen.  
"Where the hell did he go?" she thought, coming out of the tent.  
Rachel turned and saw him, crouched down by the stream, skipping stones across the crystal-clear water. She jogged towards him, slowing down, and knelt beside him.  
"I have a message from Dr. Ciao," she informed, handing it to him.  
Rush grabbed the piece of paper without a word, read it, and handed it back. He stood up and began walking towards the tent.  
"I have to get him out of this mood," thought Rachel, concerned for Rush, "He will have plenty of time to mourn after all of this crap is over with."

"Attention on deck!" yelled LeGraud, coming to attention as Brandt entered the bridge of Fielding's cruiser.  
Everyone came to attention, even Fielding.  
"At ease," stated Brandt, walking towards Fielding.  
The crew returned to their task of fixing the cruiser. Fielding stayed at attention, saluting Brandt.  
"Commander Brandt, Sir," said Fielding, snapping the salute.  
"At ease, Captain," replied Brandt with a laugh, "Are all of always so uptight like this."  
"Yes, Si-" said Fielding, interrupted.  
"Call me Derril," informed Brandt, "You are Thomas, correct?"  
"Tom, Commander," replied Fielding.  
"I read the report on the battle that took place here, Tom," said Brandt, "and I am absolutely amazed."  
"Only doing my job," replied Fielding, cracking a minute grin.  
"We need more Captains like you, Fielding," Brandt praised, "1 cruiser against 8, and won, that is again, amazing."  
"You're too kind, Commander," Fielding replied, looking over at the hologram of the system.  
"On to business," stated Brandt, walking towards the hologram, "I came aboard to talk tactics with you, Tom."  
Fielding followed, Brandt taking out a laser pointing device.  
"We are here, correct?" questioned Brandt, point to the representation of Side 3 on the map.  
"Yes, Commander," replied Fielding.  
"I have already requested that you stay here, even though you are assigned to pull Solomon duty for 6 months, which I will explain," Brandt stated.  
"Go on, Commander," said Fielding.  
"Here at Sides 4 and 5, the USC have begun amassing large armadas of cruisers, easily twice the size of the armada at Side 7," informed Brandt, moving the pointer across the map, "and I need a Lieutenant Commander to lead up our defense forces to keep our straight route to Mars open and out of USC hands."  
Fielding snapped to attention, saluting Brandt.  
"My cruiser and I are proud to serve under you, I will gladly accept," said Fielding.  
"Glad to hear," replied Brandt, returning the salute, "besides, crews lose their edge on Solomon duty."  
Brandt headed out the airlock back to his cruiser.

"Come on, Rush," growled Rachel, "We have to leave, now, that transport is on a schedule, so we need to be in position."  
Rush finished packing all of his gear and crawled around to the cockpit of his suit. He strapped himself in and activated the suit.  
"Will you at least talk to me?" asked Rachel over the communication system, "I know it is tough, I have been through the same thing, but I need you now, I need you to help me do this."  
"I will," he replied, solemnly, "I will help you destroy this bastards, I will help you make them pay for the pain and suffering they have caused me, you, and everyone else."  
"That is the Rush I know," she replied, "Let's go," she added, thrusting through the treetops, leaving their little slice of paradise in the middle of the forest.  
Rush followed, leaving the place as well, having a thirst for blood.  
"That winged suit," thought Rush, remembering the photos in the file, "it's pilot is inhuman. Human or not, he will pay dearly for what he has done, as long as the rest of the EMF."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Damn it," cursed Fielding under his breath, "I really wanted the patrol duty."  
He looked out the viewport, seeing the massive, sprawling facilities of the Granada Moon Base, a cruiser hub for the EMF fleet. All ships either came here or went to Space Fortress Solomon. No USC armada could take either in their current state, but there was still that possibility that no one wanted to think about.  
"At least the bleeding stopped," commented Fielding, touching the bandage above his eye, covering his gashed eyebrow.  
Priss walked to Fielding after his junior officer handed him a data disk and some paperwork.  
"Sir," started Priss, "Here is a full report on the repairs made to the ship here at Granada."  
Fielding took the paperwork and the data disk copy. He scanned through the many papers, seeing things like "Engine Reactors-100" or "Ship Defense Power Grid-Online" and especially "Main Cannons-100 operational".  
"Well," replied Fielding, closing the file, "appears we are ready for duty again."  
"Seems that way, Sir," agreed Priss, going back to his work station on the other side of the bridge.  
"Alright people," announced Fielding over the ship's intercom, "time to get the party started, we are heading out in 15 minutes."  
Scattered "Yes, Sir"s were heard throughout the ship.  
"That is one thing I like about my crew," thought Fielding, "they are always up for a fight."

"This is boring," commented Rush, watching a set of empty railroad tracks that had clearing on either side, with thick forest after that.  
"Shut up," replied Rachel, appearing on his communication system, "It is scheduled to be here within the hour."  
"What will?" said Rush, just trying to get under Rachel's skin.  
"The transport train, you jackass," Rachel snapped.  
"Whatever," replied Rush with a yawn, "wake me up when it is here, I'm tired."  
"He is such a jerk," thought Rachel, ending the conversation as Rush kicked back in his pilot's seat.  
Rachel pulled out her PDA she had attached to her belt.  
"Might as well do something remotely entertaining," she commented, starting a game she had on it.

"E.T.A., X.O.," stated Brandt, watching Earth grow larger and larger in his viewport.  
"At our current speed," replied his X.O., "we will arrive within 30 minutes."  
"Good," said Brandt, "That means I will be able to take the transport to this base instead of flying it there and exposing it," he added, pointing to different points on his map.  
"Your suit, along with the 1st Battalion is ready for deployment, Sir," informed the X.O., reading data off of his clipboard PDA.  
Brandt stood up and headed for the airlock at the rear of the bridge.  
"I will be in my quarters," informed Brandt, " you are in charge of the bridge, get me when we land."  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed his X.O., "one more thing, Sir," he added, stopping Brandt short of the airlock.  
"Yes, X.O.?" he questioned.  
"I received a report about a EMF patrol, sector Gamma I do believe, was completely destroyed by an unknown force."  
He had Brandt's full attention.  
"How long ago was this?" questioned Brandt, a concerned look on his face.  
"It says that it was less than an hour ago in the report, so about an hour, maybe more," replied the X.O., factoring in the amount of time it took to send it to the cruiser.  
"You said Gamma sector, the one out by the Jupiter Resource facilities, correct?" Brandt pondered, seeing if his thoughts were correct.  
"The one and only, Sir," replied his X.O.  
"I want a full report on the incident, ASAP," commanded Brandt, as he turned around and headed for his cabin.

"Sir," informed LeGraud, "We are exiting Granada airspace and entering Side 3."  
"Good," replied Fielding, "Stay on this heading unless I specify otherwise."  
"Yes, Sir," obeyed LeGraud, sending the heading to Ensign Summers' computer.  
"Priss," called Fielding, turning around in his chair, looking for him.  
Priss walked over from his station to Fielding.  
"Yes, Sir?" he questioned, looking at Fielding.  
"Has anyone picked up or heard anything about that cruiser that escaped in our last battle?" asked Fielding, keeping his voice down.  
"No, Sir," replied Priss in the same manner, "It seems to have disappeared from existence."  
"No," stated Fielding, "I have a good idea on where it would be at."  
He looked at the debris field by S3-CN0235, left from a previous war.  
"There," informed Fielding, pointing to it on screen, "Ensign, set course for that debris field."  
"Yes, Sir," replied Summers, confused about their new heading.  
"Priss," commanded Fielding, "activate shields, charge and prime all weapons, all hands to combat status."  
"Yes, Sir" obeyed Priss, "but what about pat-"  
"Can it," interrupted Fielding, "They can handle things without us for a little longer."  
Priss started activating all of the cruiser's weapons, all ready to fire at the push of their buttons.  
"If it is who I think it is," thought Fielding, "I must be ready, I cannot let him have an advantage. He is the only one I know that could escape in one piece and disappear as he did."  
The cruiser entered the debris field; some small pieces would bounce off of the hull of the ship, causing metallic thuds that startled everyone everytime it happened. Fielding only chuckled.  
"If you think this is bad," commented Fielding, "wait until we find the debris that's bigger than this cruiser."  
The bridge remained quiet, not wanting to find out first hand. Ensign Summers was doing an excellent job avoiding almost all the debris.  
"Good job, Summers," stated Fielding, proud of his pilot, "keep up the good work."  
"Thank you, Sir," she replied, concentrating on the debris ahead of the cruiser.

"Damn it!" cursed Rachel, losing her last life at her game on her PDA.  
She put it away and saw nothing in front of her on her screen.  
"Well," she commented, growing tired of being still," might as well run a check on Cydra."  
She began keying in sequences, checking all the systems, making sure the suit was at 100 optimum efficiency.  
"Rush is...different," thought Rachel as she did her tests, "We seem to have a lot in common. I can't really get to know him though will he is moping around. I understand it is hard to lose loved ones, I know firsthand, but I can't just tell him to get over it."  
She bit her lower lip, pondering upon what she should do.  
"I can't let him beat himself up over it either; I need his help right now. Our suits work together, mine is a melee-short range suit and his is a medium to long range suit, so we protect each other."  
Rachel began another simulation on her computer, just to recheck everything, and to pass time.  
"I kinda like him, but I don't know if he knows I do," she continued to think.  
A man in a labcoat, wearing glasses, appeared on her communication system.  
"Dr. Ciao!" exclaimed Rachel, seeing him for the first time in a month.  
"Hello, Taka," he replied with a nod, "How are you?"  
"I doing ok," Rachel explained, "Cydra is performing just how you designed it to."  
"That is good to hear," replied Ciao, "and what about your new partner?"  
"He can be an ass sometimes," Rachel stated, "but, he is a damn good pilot."  
"From what you have told me in your recent messages, it seems that you have developed feelings for him, a crush, perhaps?" Ciao inquired.  
"Don't be absurd," Rachel lied, defending herself.  
"Ok, calm down," Ciao replied with a laugh, "that fiery temper of yours, that reminds me of your father."  
Rachel remembered him, her heart sank.  
"I miss him, Dr. Ciao," she stated, sadly, "no one will be able to ever replace him, but you are the next closest thing to a father to me."  
"Glad to hear that," replied Ciao, remembering the time he spent raising her as her own. "I will talk to you later, don't want the EMF to home in on my signal."  
"Goodbye, Doctor," she said, touching the screen.  
"Goodbye, Taka," he replied, the transmission ended.  
Rachel remained silent for a few minutes, looking out her viewport in her suit, watching a couple of birds fly by.

"Sir?" questioned a junior officer, knocking on Brandt's cabin door.  
"Yes?" replied Brandt on the other side.  
"We are entering the atmosphere now, we should be planetside within 10 minutes," informed the officer.  
"Good," Brandt stated, "I will be ready by then, have my suit ready to go."  
"Yes, Sir," replied the junior officer, walking down the hall to the bridge of the ship.  
Brandt walked back to his communicator he had left on his nightstand.  
"The coast is clear," Brandt spoke, Serege's face appeared on the communicator.  
"Ok," replied Serege, "I have bad news."  
"What?" questioned Brandt."  
"A faction that calls themselves the UTSR, or the United Terrain Soviet Republic, is on their way to your universe to "acquire" the MS technology."  
"And?" Brandt continued  
"And, they are powerful, far too powerful for the EMF, or the USC, to take on alone. What I am asking of you might come as a shock, but, you must somehow get the EMF and the USC to join forces and form an alliance."  
"No way in hell," replied Brandt, coldly, "Even if we were willing in the first place, they wouldn't agree after the genocide I committed under orders."  
"I know it looks grim, but you must at least attempt it, Brandt, your universe's existence depends on it."  
"I will try, but our leaders, either side, will not listen to reason," Brandt informed, "they are all stubborn and want to see the other side dead."  
Brandt saw a female in the background as she entered the room that Serege was in.  
"Fredrick, is that him? questioned the female.  
"This is a pri-" Serege attempted to say.  
She pushed Serege aside and looked at Brandt.  
"Listen to me, you bastard," she yelled, "I don't care if you were going to be executed, that doesn't give you the right to kill innocent civilians."  
"Serege, who is that?" questioned Brandt, insulted.  
"No one," Serege said, shoving her out of view, "I will contact you later."  
The communicator went dead.  
"Time to go, I guess," thought Brandt, as he headed out his cabin, down the hall towards his suit.

An older man, in his early 60s, paced back and forth across the bridge of his ship. He was tall, standing nearly 7 feet and slightly larger than average build, he was intimidating. He had the markings of Captain on his uniform. His left arm was amputated from the socket down, his sleeve pinned up on his shoulder crowning on his uniform. His silvery-white hair was accented by his dark blue, penetrating eye, his left eye was covered by a black eye patch. He had seen action, his crew wasn't green either. His nametag on his uniform, across from his many medals, read "FIELDING". The uniform, well kept and cleaned, was of USC colors, dark purple with gold trim.  
"Status," commanded Fielding in a loud, booming voice.  
"All 7 cruisers have been destroyed in combat," informed the X.O., "We are at 100 effectiveness still."  
"Keep us hidden, set a course for Side 4," Fielding said, sitting down in his chair.  
"Sir," informed the Nav. officer, "I have something on long range scanners."  
The image came up on screen, the ship on screen wasn't friendly.  
"They found us," commented Fielding, "Combat status, all men to their stations," Fielding said, taking command.  
"There is only one person that could have decimated my fleet," thought Fielding, "and then have the nerve to hunt me down. He will be sadly disappointed when he finds me, I will be ready for him. No one, not the EMF, and definitely not you, little brother, will stop me, I will bring the USC to its restored glory."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The debris grew more and more numerous, sometimes blocking the view of the cruiser's forward cameras.  
"Stay sharp, people," warned Fielding, "That cruiser could be anywhere."  
Time passed as they drifted through the debris, the all-well-know sounds of debris striking the hull echoed throughout the ship, racking everyone's nerves on end.  
"Enemy signature," informed LeGraud, "it's faint, but I have it on long range scanners."  
"Bring it up on screen," commanded Fielding, darting his eyes back to the main screen.  
A lone USC cruiser amidst the debris appeared, maneuvering just as they were to avoid the numerous amount of junk that floated in the area.  
"I have a complete signature, Sir," LeGraud continued, "A USC heavy cruiser, the same one that fled our last battle."  
"Cowards," commented Fielding, "they must be trying to make a break for Side 4."  
The USC cruiser was now facing them and increasing speed.  
"As soon as it comes into range, fire the main cannons," Fielding commanded, looking to his weapons officer, Ensign Ryan Deathrage. He was fresh; his stay aboard this ship was his first assignment. Barely old enough to be in the military, he looked like a little boy. His sandy blond hair, crew cut, was accented by his light blue eyes, which were glued to his computer.  
"Yes, Sir," replied Deathrage, keying combinations into his computer, setting firing solutions for the main cannons.  
Seconds passed, seeming like hours, the ships flying straight for each other.  
The EMF cruiser shuddered as the fully charged cannons fired, sending the all-too-familiar 2 blinding, white-hot streaks of light towards the enemy cruiser. They seemed to move slowly because of the vast distance between the ships. Anticipation and hope filled in Fielding, waiting for the sight of an impact. The streaks of light were only seconds away, when the USC cruiser hit its emergency thrusters and dodged the cannon shots, which impacted the remains of a resource satellite, obliterating it.  
"Charge cannons again, fire at 100," Fielding ordered, keeping a grasp on the situation.  
The main screen flickered, turned to static, and an older man with only one blue eye appeared in his USC uniform.  
"You have always been a lousy shot, little brother," taunted the man.  
"Jonathan," scowled Fielding, gritting his teeth.  
"Don't worry, little brother," Jonathan continued to taunt, "You will see mother and father soon enough."  
"You keep them out of this!" Fielding screamed, "It was your fault they died, and you passed off as if it were nothing."  
"It was for the good of the colonies," Jonathan replied in his usual demeanor.  
"Killing innocent people, especially your family, is never good for anyone," Fielding said, enraged by his brother's lack of emotion.  
"You have a lot of room to talk, Thomas," Jonathan came back, "the EMF's beloved Cmdr. Derril Brandt destroyed an entire colony, S7-CN0023 to be exact."  
Fielding's face turned pale, one of his commanding officers and one of the few people he still respected committing atrocities of that magnitude was not possible for Brandt's actions, was it? The EMF had civilian blood on its hands, Fielding hadn't know at all about this, it came as quite a shock to him.  
"What's the matter, Thomas?" Jonathan continued to taunt, "did you actually believe that the EMF was "perfect", that they protected the Earth with honor, purity, and integrity?"  
"I do," replied Fielding, assurance in his voice, "I don't give a shit about the rest of the EMF, I know what is right and wrong, regardless of what others do in our name."  
"Spare me the patriotic speech, Thomas," groaned Jonathan, "Regardless, you will have to better than that pathetic attempt."  
"Oh, I will," Fielding stated, "you can count on that."  
Jonathan gave a minute chuckle as the screen returned to normal.  
"Sir," informed Deathrage, afraid to but in on the conversation, "cannons are at 100."  
"Target the cruiser, but don't fire until I say so," Fielding commanded, watching his adversary maneuver in space.  
"Target is locked, Sir," Deathrage stated, continuing to work at his computer.  
A series of flashes appeared on the USC cruiser. Seconds later, alarms were blaring throughout Fielding's ship.  
"Sir, multiple missile launches locked on our position," LeGraud informed, watching his scanners and radar.  
"Begin evasive action, Ensign Summers," Fielding said, calmly.  
"Yes, Sir," she replied, maneuvering the ship out of the path of some of the missiles.  
A series of concussive blasts resonated on the hull, blowing the armor plating away.  
"Hull breaches in sections 5,6,7, and 9, Sir," Priss informed form his station, automatically sealing the breaches without being told to.  
"Trying to blow us in half, I see," thought Fielding, trying to remain focused on the battle.  
"Get us closer, Ensign," Fielding stated, watching the USC cruiser closely.  
They thrusted forward, growing closer and closer to the USC cruiser.  
"Change course to heading 0-4-5 starboard...now," commanded Fielding.  
The cruiser made a quarter turn towards the USC cruiser.  
"Fire the main cannons, Ensign Deathrage," ordered Fielding.  
The ship vibrated as the cannons sent forth the beams, closing in on the enemy cruiser. The USC cruiser took a direct hit towards the bow, the beams penetrating straight through the cruiser. The crippled USC cruiser fired all of its portside weapons as the EMF ship passed by after its attack, inflicting moderate damage.  
"We can't take much more of this, Sir," Priss commented.  
"Pull yourself together," replied Fielding, seeing the damage on the screen next to him. The diagram flashed red where the cruiser had taken damage, which included amidships, the bow, and nearly all of the starboard side.  
"Engines are failing, Sir," informed Summers, concerned about the ship's loss of speed.  
"Run 'em 'till the blow, Ensign," Fielding replied, keeping his cool on the situation at hand.  
The USC cruiser fired another salvo of missiles at Fielding, trying to finish him off.  
"Divert shields to projected missile impacts, Priss," ordered Fielding, watching the missiles come closer and closer.  
The reoccurring impacts continued, most absorbed by the cruiser's shields, but some found their way to the hull as usual, inflicting massive damage to the already damaged hull.  
"That last attack knocked our stabilizers offline, Sir," worried Summers, as the ship began to list to the right, rolling in space.  
"Target the enemy's bow, hit the emergency thrusters when I say to," Fielding informed, thinking of a strategy.  
The USC cruiser thrusted into position to make a final attack on the crippled EMF cruiser.  
"Now!" commanded Fielding.  
The cruiser shot upward, and all the bow weapons fired, having a straight line of fire on the USC cruiser. Missiles, beams, and bullets struck the USC cruiser with tremendous force port, causing it to roll starboard. Jonathan appeared on screen as he did last time. His bridge was in disarray; some of his crewmen lay on the deck, lifeless from the last attack.  
"Good show, little brother," Jonathan said, blood running form wounds on his face.  
A pang of regrets struck Fielding.  
"Seems I taught you something after all," he continued with a laugh, only stopped by a wincing of pain.  
Fielding couldn't speak, watching his brother in pain made him feel weak. Even though he was a heartless bastard, he was still his brother.  
"You can make it to the escape pods Jonathan, do it!" Fielding yelled, watching sparks fly from the shattered computers behind him.  
"It is too late, brother," He said with remorse in his voice, "but remember, I am sorry for what I have done, and I will always lo-"  
The cruiser ruptured and exploded violently, sending a shockwave through space.  
"No," thought Fielding, tears swelling up in his eyes, "he had to survive, he just had to."  
Fielding held back his tears, trying to keep his composure aboard the bridge.  
"Original heading for Side 3, set it on Autopilot," Fielding choked, "engage starboard thrusters on continuous burn until the stabilization is fixed."  
Without a word, Fielding's commands were carried out.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Sir?" questioned the same junior officer from before, knocking on Brandt's door.  
"Yes, what is it," he replied calmly, shutting his communicator and sliding it into its holster on his belt.  
"We have landed," informed the officer, knowing that he sounded stupid.  
"It appears we have," Brandt said with a chuckle, opening his door.  
The junior officer headed back to the bridge to inform Priss, while Brandt made his way to the cargo bays. He entered the elevator, pressing the key to engage the lift, taking him to the bays on the lowest level.  
"We need the help," thought Brandt, "but, I can't afford the USC finding out that a superior force was aiding us, then all hell would break loose, making peace even harder to attain."  
The levels passed by, one after another.  
"I need the parts for my units, but that would cause question among my own troops, since quality supplies are hard to come by in these trying times of the war."  
The lift slowed, nearing the bottom of the shaft.  
"I will find some way of attaining their assistance," Brandt said, reassuringly.  
The doors opened, lights bathing the lift. Activity was numerous, maintenance crews getting were getting all of the units ready for transport.  
"I see this war turning for the worse for some reason in the future," thought Brandt, having a gut instinct about him.

"Where the hell have you been, Fielding?" ranted Bently, not happy with Fielding's little side trip.  
"I tracked down the USC cruiser that escaped on my way ba-" Fielding managed.  
"I don't care, you disobeyed a direct order by straying off course," interrupted Bently, "but, seeing you managed to eliminate THE Jonathan Fielding, I will let you off with a warning."  
Fielding winced at the name, either the Admiral was just stupid, or he knew that Jonathan was Fielding's brother.  
"It won't happen again, Sir," Fielding replied, keeping his cool.  
"It better not," Bently continued, "otherwise you will be dishonorably discharged, then sent to work the resource mines by Jupiter."  
The screen went blank, then returning to the empty view of space in front of them.  
"I will not be treated like a dog, not by him, not by no one," thought Fielding, gritting his teeth.  
His crew knew what their "victory" had wrought, pain and suffering for Fielding and a royal ass chewing by command for their actions against direct orders.

"Sir," informed Priss, handing him a data disk, "current reports on the war, appears that we are doing fairly well up here."  
"Thank you, X.O.," Fielding replied, taking the disk from Priss.  
Fielding slid the disk into his PDA, activating the device. He skimmed through the documents in his all-to-usual way, only reading important and noticeable points. Side 3 and 7 are under EMF control, along with the Mars Research Facilities, from what the files stated. Side 4 and 5, one each on either side of Side 3 are amassing large armadas, larger than they have ever had before. The report continued, stating that the ground war is running fairly well besides the small number of forces that made it through and set up a base. Fielding took careful attention to various reports of 'unknown enemy units."  
"What is this, Priss?" questioned Fielding, allowing him to read the report on the unknown enemy units.  
"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Priss, "I think it has something to do with that reentry capsule we saw at the MS facility."  
Fielding snapped towards Priss, remembering that day.  
"I think you are right, Priss," Fielding said, thought about his voice, "Did they ever find out what that was."  
"Not that I know of, Sir," replied Priss, "A search party found a decoy, but not the real object, so it is still a mystery."  
"My grandfather told me a story when I was little," informed Fielding, as Priss knelt down, "of a mobile suit that was powerful, so powerful that it would take hundreds of units to put a dent in it."  
"I have never heard of such a thing, Sir," Priss said blankfully.  
"I believe he referred to these suits as Gundams, mobile suits constructed completely of Gundanium Alloy, a very rare, synthetic material," Fielding continued, informing his X.O. about these super suits.  
"The last recorded use of the was around A.C. 195-196," Fielding informed, "so roughly a century ago, these mobile suits, actually, all mobile suits, were decommissioned and destroyed to promote peace, which has gotten us really far," he added at the end with sarcasm in his voice.  
"I know," Priss said, "but it seems it is in people's nature to fight, so history will continue to repeat itself in a vicious cycle."  
"So it would seem," Fielding finished, looking out the viewport, seeing Earth.  
"But," he stated, "we must do our duty, no matter what."  
"Now what, Sir?" questioned Priss, waiting until Bentley was finished.  
"I guess we sit here on our asses like we were ordered to," replied Fielding with sarcasm in his voice.

Disgusted, Fielding lifted himself out of his chair and headed for the airlock at the rear of the bridge.

"Priss," Fielding said as he walked through the doorway, 'your in charge until I come back."  
"Yes, Sir," Priss replied, as Fielding disappeared behind the airlock.

"I got it," thought Rachel, after thinking for a seemingly endless amount of time, "I will just ask him a couple of questions, and base his attraction off of his answers."  
Rachel glanced down at her watch, seeing it was nearing time for the transport to arrive at their position. She sent a message to Rush, who was still sleeping.  
"Rush, wake up," she said, seeing him in an awkward position in his chair, "c'mon sleepyhead, time to wake up."  
Rush continued to snore, turning on his side.  
"Wake up, jackass," she growled, becoming irritated by Rush's continuous actions.  
Rush slowly rose, hearing her yell.  
"Good," she commented, "glad to see that you are ready, did you have a good nap?"  
"Shut up," he snapped, rubbing his eyes, "I was enjoying my peace of mind until you woke me up."  
"Get over it," Rachel informed, "it's time to go to work, so get ready, intel was pretty horrible on this one so we need to be ready for anything."  
Rush snapped awake, he didn't like the words "horrible intel" put together.  
"What do you mean?" he questioned, not wanting to hear those words.  
"Satellite imagery isn't the best because of the EMF's jammers, so everything is blurry and there isn't any definites on this transport, but it is our mission, we need to do it, so be ready for anything," Rachel replied.  
"Alright," Rush stated, turning on his active scanners, getting ready for their planned attack.  
"You do remember the plan, don't you?" questioned Rachel, knowing he probably already forgot.  
"Yeah, I kill them while you sit there and look pretty," he replied, flirtingly.  
"No, tha-, wait, what did you say?" Rachel stopped herself and listed to him.  
"I said you sit there and look pretty," Rush repeated himself.  
Rachel blushed a little, finally know Rush had some kind of attraction to her.  
"Do you seriously know what you are supposed to do?" Rachel managed, still blushed.  
"Yes, I am on the lookout for scouts and whatnot, while you protect my ass in the process," he said being serious for once.  
"Correct," she replied, "it shouldn't be long before the transport comes through here, so be ready."  
"Way ahead of you," he said, with his usually cocky tone.  
"Don't make me have to save you again, Rush," replied Rachel with a stern voice.  
"No problem," Rush said, finishing the conversation.  
He sat there watching his screen for any activity, thinking.  
"Why did I say that, she knows I like her, but I don't want to appear desperate or anything like that, so what am I going to do?" Rush pondered, nothing happening on his screen.  
"I'll think about this later," Rush continued, "This whole mission on the other hand, I have a really bad feeling about."

"Commander Brandt, Sir!" saluted a Lieutenant, as the transport was being loaded behind them.  
"At ease, Lieutenant," Brandt replied, returning the salute, "How long until we depart?"  
"Within 10 minutes, Sir," the Lt. informed, checking his watch.  
"Good," Brandt said, "I want my unit in a car all by itself, ok?"  
"Yes, Sir." obeyed the Lt.  
He jogged over to the crane operator that was loading the mobile suits into the cars, each holding 4 with vehicles of all sorts in the middle. Each car had considerable defenses, a twin beam cannon turret on top with a small caliber gattling cannon at either end of the car. The entire train had armor, protecting from every known weapon in the USC's arsenal. Brandt watched as his battalion was loaded up, supplies and all, waiting to arrive at the EMF base on the eastern seaboard of the continent of North America.  
"I have a bad feeling about this," thought Brandt, looking in the distance, "no amount of armament will settle my feeling about this one."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

"Sir?" questioned the same junior officer from before, knocking on Brandt's door.  
"Yes, what is it," he replied calmly, shutting his communicator and sliding it into its holster on his belt.  
"We have landed," informed the officer, knowing that he sounded stupid.  
"It appears we have," Brandt said with a chuckle, opening his door.  
The junior officer headed back to the bridge to inform Priss, while Brandt made his way to the cargo bays. He entered the elevator, pressing the key to engage the lift, taking him to the bays on the lowest level.  
"We need the help," thought Brandt, "but, I can't afford the USC finding out that a superior force was aiding us, then all hell would break loose, making peace even harder to attain."  
The levels passed by, one after another.  
"I need the parts for my units, but that would cause question among my own troops, since quality supplies are hard to come by in these trying times of the war."  
The lift slowed, nearing the bottom of the shaft.  
"I will find some way of attaining their assistance," Brandt said, reassuringly.  
The doors opened, lights bathing the lift. Activity was numerous, maintenance crews getting were getting all of the units ready for transport.  
"I see this war turning for the worse for some reason in the future," thought Brandt, having a gut instinct about him.

"Where the hell have you been, Fielding?" ranted Bently, not happy with Fielding's little side trip.  
"I tracked down the USC cruiser that escaped on my way ba-" Fielding managed.  
"I don't care, you disobeyed a direct order by straying off course," interrupted Bently, "but, seeing you managed to eliminate THE Jonathan Fielding, I will let you off with a warning."  
Fielding winced at the name, either the Admiral was just stupid, or he knew that Jonathan was Fielding's brother.  
"It won't happen again, Sir," Fielding replied, keeping his cool.  
"It better not," Bently continued, "otherwise you will be dishonorably discharged, then sent to work the resource mines by Jupiter."  
The screen went blank, then returning to the empty view of space in front of them.  
"I will not be treated like a dog, not by him, not by no one," thought Fielding, gritting his teeth.  
His crew knew what their "victory" had wrought, pain and suffering for Fielding and a royal ass chewing by command for their actions against direct orders.

"Sir," informed Priss, handing him a data disk, "current reports on the war, appears that we are doing fairly well up here."  
"Thank you, X.O.," Fielding replied, taking the disk from Priss.  
Fielding slid the disk into his PDA, activating the device. He skimmed through the documents in his all-to-usual way, only reading important and noticeable points. Side 3 and 7 are under EMF control, along with the Mars Research Facilities, from what the files stated. Side 4 and 5, one each on either side of Side 3 are amassing large armadas, larger than they have ever had before. The report continued, stating that the ground war is running fairly well besides the small number of forces that made it through and set up a base. Fielding took careful attention to various reports of 'unknown enemy units."  
"What is this, Priss?" questioned Fielding, allowing him to read the report on the unknown enemy units.  
"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Priss, "I think it has something to do with that reentry capsule we saw at the MS facility."  
Fielding snapped towards Priss, remembering that day.  
"I think you are right, Priss," Fielding said, thought about his voice, "Did they ever find out what that was."  
"Not that I know of, Sir," replied Priss, "A search party found a decoy, but not the real object, so it is still a mystery."  
"My grandfather told me a story when I was little," informed Fielding, as Priss knelt down, "of a mobile suit that was powerful, so powerful that it would take hundreds of units to put a dent in it."  
"I have never heard of such a thing, Sir," Priss said blankfully.  
"I believe he referred to these suits as Gundams, mobile suits constructed completely of Gundanium Alloy, a very rare, synthetic material," Fielding continued, informing his X.O. about these super suits.  
"The last recorded use of the was around A.C. 195-196," Fielding informed, "so roughly a century ago, these mobile suits, actually, all mobile suits, were decommissioned and destroyed to promote peace, which has gotten us really far," he added at the end with sarcasm in his voice.  
"I know," Priss said, "but it seems it is in people's nature to fight, so history will continue to repeat itself in a vicious cycle."  
"So it would seem," Fielding finished, looking out the viewport, seeing Earth.  
"But," he stated, "we must do our duty, no matter what."  
"Now what, Sir?" questioned Priss, waiting until Bentley was finished.  
"I guess we sit here on our asses like we were ordered to," replied Fielding with sarcasm in his voice.

Disgusted, Fielding lifted himself out of his chair and headed for the airlock at the rear of the bridge.

"Priss," Fielding said as he walked through the doorway, 'your in charge until I come back."  
"Yes, Sir," Priss replied, as Fielding disappeared behind the airlock.

"I got it," thought Rachel, after thinking for a seemingly endless amount of time, "I will just ask him a couple of questions, and base his attraction off of his answers."  
Rachel glanced down at her watch, seeing it was nearing time for the transport to arrive at their position. She sent a message to Rush, who was still sleeping.  
"Rush, wake up," she said, seeing him in an awkward position in his chair, "c'mon sleepyhead, time to wake up."  
Rush continued to snore, turning on his side.  
"Wake up, jackass," she growled, becoming irritated by Rush's continuous actions.  
Rush slowly rose, hearing her yell.  
"Good," she commented, "glad to see that you are ready, did you have a good nap?"  
"Shut up," he snapped, rubbing his eyes, "I was enjoying my peace of mind until you woke me up."  
"Get over it," Rachel informed, "it's time to go to work, so get ready, intel was pretty horrible on this one so we need to be ready for anything."  
Rush snapped awake, he didn't like the words "horrible intel" put together.  
"What do you mean?" he questioned, not wanting to hear those words.  
"Satellite imagery isn't the best because of the EMF's jammers, so everything is blurry and there isn't any definites on this transport, but it is our mission, we need to do it, so be ready for anything," Rachel replied.  
"Alright," Rush stated, turning on his active scanners, getting ready for their planned attack.  
"You do remember the plan, don't you?" questioned Rachel, knowing he probably already forgot.  
"Yeah, I kill them while you sit there and look pretty," he replied, flirtingly.  
"No, tha-, wait, what did you say?" Rachel stopped herself and listed to him.  
"I said you sit there and look pretty," Rush repeated himself.  
Rachel blushed a little, finally know Rush had some kind of attraction to her.  
"Do you seriously know what you are supposed to do?" Rachel managed, still blushed.  
"Yes, I am on the lookout for scouts and whatnot, while you protect my ass in the process," he said being serious for once.  
"Correct," she replied, "it shouldn't be long before the transport comes through here, so be ready."  
"Way ahead of you," he said, with his usually cocky tone.  
"Don't make me have to save you again, Rush," replied Rachel with a stern voice.  
"No problem," Rush said, finishing the conversation.  
He sat there watching his screen for any activity, thinking.  
"Why did I say that, she knows I like her, but I don't want to appear desperate or anything like that, so what am I going to do?" Rush pondered, nothing happening on his screen.  
"I'll think about this later," Rush continued, "This whole mission on the other hand, I have a really bad feeling about."

"Commander Brandt, Sir!" saluted a Lieutenant, as the transport was being loaded behind them.  
"At ease, Lieutenant," Brandt replied, returning the salute, "How long until we depart?"  
"Within 10 minutes, Sir," the Lt. informed, checking his watch.  
"Good," Brandt said, "I want my unit in a car all by itself, ok?"  
"Yes, Sir." obeyed the Lt.  
He jogged over to the crane operator that was loading the mobile suits into the cars, each holding 4 with vehicles of all sorts in the middle. Each car had considerable defenses, a twin beam cannon turret on top with a small caliber gattling cannon at either end of the car. The entire train had armor, protecting from every known weapon in the USC's arsenal. Brandt watched as his battalion was loaded up, supplies and all, waiting to arrive at the EMF base on the eastern seaboard of the continent of North America.  
"I have a bad feeling about this," thought Brandt, looking in the distance, "no amount of armament will settle my feeling about this one."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Fielding was in his quarters, looking over some of his personal belongings. He kept them in a box under his bunk, which was anything but comfortable. His quarters in general were no better than that of an enlisted crewman. He picked up a picture of him and his older brother, both in USC uniforms, fresh out of the academy.

"Jonathan," Fielding said softly, "why? Why couldn't it have been like it used to be. You, Me, both aboard the Hellion, back when we were on the same side. Why? Why did you leave space and headed to Earth, eventually joining the EMF? You killed our parents without a second thought, but, know that I have avenged them, it is shallow. I hated you with every fiber of my being, my own flesh and blood. I respected you, but you defected, all I want to know is why."

Fielding continued to think about his brother's past ordeals that lead up to his death, at Thomas's hands. Fielding set his picture down and picked up another, a old photograph of his parents, when he was a small child, Jonathan the same.

"If only things could have stayed that way, one big happy family," Fielding thought, studying the picture.

His father appeared to be a handsome man, tall, dark, and well built, young to boot. His mother, a beautiful woman, a woman men would beg to spend the rest of their lives with. He missed them, he missed Jonathan, nothing will ever bring any of them back."

Fielding continued to sift through the many years of photographs he had of memories, good memories, which were very few and far between for the tragedy of a life that he had lived up until then. A knock sounded on his door.

"Yes?" questioned Fielding, sliding his box back underneath of his bunk.

"You are needed on the bridge, Sir," informed Priss, concern about his voice.

The rolling landscape flew by as Brandt glanced out his window. He returned to his work on his personal computer, checking current reports of activity.  
"Seems the closest known threat is nowhere near this transport," Brandt commented to himself, "but, there are always surprises."  
Brandt had the entire car to himself, the Officer's car is what it was referred to. Nothing more than a mobile cabin is what it was, very bleak, with no variance besides the doors at either end and the 4 windows, 2 on either side.  
The EMF didn't use much of their budget on accommodations, but Brandt didn't mind.  
"I would like to know who is responsible for these recent attacks though," Brandt said, looking at the files containing information about patrols being wiped out and losing an entire base to the USC.  
He took a sip of his coffee that was setting on his desk and looked out the window again.  
"I can't see why people wouldn't want to live here on Earth," Brandt said, setting the cup down, watching the transport cross deep gorge that contained a river many feet below.

"I have something," Rush informed, looking at his radar screen.  
"So do I," replied Rachel, "It's the transport, I won't begin my attack until you do, ok?"  
"Got it," he replied, taking the safeties off of his weapons.  
The sound of wheels hitting the rail connections in their regular clack-clack sound grew louder and louder as it neared, coming closer and closer to Rush and Rachel's hidden position.  
"I have visual," Rush informed, taking aim with his right side Twin Dober Gun.  
The transport rounded the bend coming nearly head on towards the hidden Gundams.  
"Lock," Rush stated, squeezing the trigger on the control joystick.  
A thunderous boom emitted from the gun, sending the projectile speeding towards the transport. The transport locked up its brakes, attempting to avoid the shot. The Dober shell hit the engine of the transport train, causing it to stop dead in its tracks, derailing some of the trailing cars.  
"Direct hit," Rush said, pleased with himself.  
"Don't get too cocky," replied Rachel, as 10 high mobility units lifted off of the cars and began firing at their position. A bright, red beam pierced one of the air units, causing it to rupture into a violent fireball.  
"Where the hell did that come from?" questioned Rush, as the target he locked on to exploded.  
"I have no idea," replied Rachel, as she opened fire on another unit, "but, by the look of things, they are with us."  
Another flying unit bit the dust, same as the last did, with pinpoint accuracy.  
"Glad they are," commented Rush, taking aim at another unit.

"Commander-...need...itence," informed the Lt. towards the front of the transport, his transmission garbled and staticy.  
"Repeat, Lieutenant," replied Brandt, picking up his communicator.  
"The enemy is attacking," managed the Lt. coming in clear, "Our air units are being slaughtered, we need your help."  
"I will be ready as soon as I can," Brandt stated.  
"It is-," the Lt.'s transmission was cut short something off screen.  
"It is what, Lt.?" Brandt questioned, seeing the Lt.'s face turn pale on the screen.  
"I have never seen an enemy suit like that," commented someone off screen.  
"Lt., Report!" yelled Brandt, wanting to know what was going on.  
"The enemy suits are G-" the transmission went dead.  
"Damn it," sweared Brandt, running to his suit in the next car.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

Brandt Ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the transport car set aside for his suit. it didn't take long for him to get settled into the cockpit, and the unit's startup time was incredibly short. The ceiling of the transport car slid open, and Brandt hit the thrusters full up.

The Hephaestus's Angel wings gave a single great push as the thrusters fired, throwing the machine upward into the open Air. as it shot upward, Brandt got his first good look at the enemy MS, Gundam, By the look of them, he felt that he should be surprised, or afraid, or something, but all he could feel was a strong bloodlust, so strong he didn't stop to think that the feeling wasn't his...

Rush fired his suits dober guns again, dispatching another EMF suit, when he noticed too things, first, that the wrecked train was dispatching a unit of heavier MS, and second, something approaching him at incredible speed. He couldn't make it out, until it flashed by him faster than he could follow, all he could make out was a distinctive pair of wings.

"Angel wings", he thought, "Him!" he put the Dreadnaught into a spin, turning to see the Angel winged MS hovering well above him nearly half a mile away. he got his first good look at, it was yellow, with an Anubis head, and carried a huge, ornately painted shield in one hand, a large rifle in the other, and the distinctive Angel wings, now that he got a good look at them, seemed too large for the body they were attached too.

Without Thinking, He fired a volley from his Dober gun, which Brandt dodged easily, returning fire with his rifle. The rifle shells impacted against the dreadnaughts armor with tremendous force, forcing it backwards. Rush recovered just in time to dodge the berserk shield rush Brandt threw at him, using the Hephaestus's shield as a battering ram. Rush scored a few hits on the Hephaestus as Brandt recovered from the attack.

Brandt was rather Impressed with this new colony MS and its pilot, but he still didn't think it would take long to dispatch this rookie. It was at this point that the Cydra appeared, and evened out the odds again.

Or at least everyone assumed so. Brandt didn't remember telling it to do so, or even thinking of the maneuver, but the Hephaestus jumped backwards, smashing its huge shield into the Cydra, knocking it to the ground in a heap.

This, of course, was just too much for Rush to take. "Rachel! You BASTARD! do you have to kill Everyone I care about?" he fired All of the Dreadnought's weapons in salvo, the wave of ordinance zeroing in on the Hephaestus before Brandt could react. Brandt lifted the Shield to protect him self, and without any consent on his part, the Hephaestus's angel wings wrapped around it like a cloak, screening off the lighter ordinance.

Brandt started a circle strafe, firing his cannon and smaller weapons, pounding the Dreadnought with shells, missiles and laser beams. Rush pulled back, attempting to hit Brandt with another salvo, but found himself on the wrong end of a beam cannon instead.

With a thunderous bang, Dreadnought's head imploded under the force of the blast, rendering the suit useless. it dropped to the ground in a smoking heap next to the Cydra. Brandt would have shot them both into a pulp, but by now he had regained some self control and turned away, satisfied with the complete thrashing he had delivered to his adversaries. "next time around, Kids." he said, though no one could hear him.


	19. Chapter 19

"Rachel!" exclaimed Rush, hopping down off of Dreadnought to see if she was alright "Rachel!" he continued as he made his way off.  
He landed on the ground, not realizing how bad he was hurt, his ankle gave way, causing him to slam to the ground.  
"Damn it," groaned Rush, picking himself up, limping towards the remains of Cydra.  
Rush climbed the torso of Cydra, trying to reach the cockpit. He used his good foot to push himself up on to the chest of the mobile suit that lay on the ground, unmoving. He searched for the emergency release switch, feeling all around the cockpit. He pulled the switch, releasing the hatch that revealed the pilot's chair. She seemed unconscious. Rush reach in the cockpit, undoing Rachel's safety harness.  
"Looks like we really blew it this time," she weakly commented with a laugh, wincing in pain.  
"Thank God you're alive," Rush replied, still undoing the harness.  
"It is going to take more than a-" she was cut short by more pain.  
"Take it easy," Rush warned, "Let me get you out of here."  
She complied, reaching for his hand. Rush lifted Rachel out of the battered cockpit. He cradled her arm over his shoulders, helping her down off of the beaten mobile suit. Rachel looked over at Rush's headless suit.  
"Seems you didn't fare too well either," Rachel commented, wiping a trickle of blood from her forehead.  
"I have never seen or faced anything like that," Rush replied, setting her down gently next to her suit.  
"At least you got a chance to defend yourself," Rachel said, feeling cheated.  
"Believe me," Rush said, "you wouldn't have wanted to fight this, this,... monster. Your help would have been great, but I still don't think it would have been enough to win."  
Rush limped towards his suit, which was not far away. Rachel noticed he wasn't walking normally.  
"You're hurt," she said.  
"'Tis nothing," Rush replied, continuing on his way. "You are in a lot worse condition than I."  
Rachel felt her body's cry of pain, but she felt Rush's as well. Every ounce of suffering that flowed through Rush was in her as well. She knew that she had injuries, but it was nothing compared to what Rush has felt, what his heart has had to endure over these past days. Rachel lost her train of thought as her body hit her with another surge of pain, telling her to fix it or it will get worse. Rush was on his way back with a suitcase-looking box.  
"Where are you hurting at?" questioned Rush, wanting to help her.  
"Here is the worst," she informed, holding her lower left hip, which was covered by her shorts. Rush saw the area was damp, probably saturated with blood.  
"Let me see it," said Rush, opening the box, containing a wide variety of medical tools and supplies.  
She undid her buckle, sliding her shorts down enough for him to see the wound. It was a severe abrasion, enough to split the skin. Rush cleaned the area around the wound, preparing it.  
"This may hurt a little," Rush warned.  
She gripped his free hand.  
"Do it," she replied with reassurance in her voice, know that she was in good hands.

Hephaestus screamed through the sky, continuing on its way to the N. America EMF base.  
"The transport is completely destroyed," informed Brandt, radioing his superiors at the base.  
"Who's responsible for this?" questioned an Admiral, one of many high ranking officers there for a meeting.  
"2 mobile suits, Sir," Brandt continued, Hephaestus continuing on its autopilot path.  
"Only 2?" exclaimed another officer off screen.  
"Yes," Brandt replied, calmly, "both were Gundams, made of Gundanium Alloy."  
"I see," the Admiral said, keeping his anger suppressed, "and what of them?"  
"I have crippled them," stated Brandt, lying about the true reason "they are out of commission for now, I left them intact for possible capture at a later date."  
"Good thinking, Brandt," the Admiral replied, "but the pilots can call for reinforcements and such, hampering our campaign in the area."  
Brandt realized his fake strategy did have that fatal error.  
"I left jammers in the area," Brandt continued to lie, "unless they can find all of them, they can't make any kind of transmission to anyone."  
"I want a full debriefing upon your arrival, Commander Brandt," the Admiral said with authority.  
"Yes, Sir," Brandt obeyed, the transmission ending.  
The mobile suit continued to fly at extraordinary speed.  
"I let them live," commented Brandt, "so I could fight them again one day. The pilot of the Gundam with the large guns, he is skilled indeed, but he is young and foolish. The other, was incapacitated before I could size him up. This suit _acted_ on its own, which is startling. But again, it did save me a lot of trouble."  
IT knew Brandt was talking about it, and was pleased with his reactions.

"Glad that is over with," Rachel said, letting go of Rush's hand.  
"So am I," he replied, shaking his numb hand.  
"Sorry about the death grip," she said, squeezing and releasing her hand..  
"Now," Rush said, "Your forehead looks pretty bad, maybe needs stitches."  
"Just patch it up," she replied, wiping the blood off of the wound, "we can fix it later."  
"If you insist," Rush said, taking out a roll of gauze.  
Rush applied a large bandage to stop the bleeding and begun wrapping the gauze over it to hold it in place.  
"At least he hasn't taken advantage of the situation," thought Rachel, pulling her shorts back up without getting Rush's attention.  
He finished, taping the end of the roll to hold it in place.  
"Now," Rachel said, "you need a splint or something on your ankle, it looks pretty nasty."  
"I said I am fine," Rush replied, looking at it, wiggling it, "It is just sprained."  
"Stubborn ass," thought Rachel, keeping her comment to herself.  
"So," Rush said kneeling down, "no what? We have 2 busted suits, no radio, no supplies, and we are in the middle of nowhere."  
"I have n-" managed Rachel, stopping.  
"What?" Rush questioned.  
"Did you hear that?" Rachel asked, holding her head up to listen better.  
The faint sound of mobile suit footsteps resonated off in the distance. It grew louder and louder, but Rush, nor Rachel, could see a mobile suit. The ground vibrated as if the suit was right next to them. A part of the sky in front of them distorted, revealing a mobile suit. It looked a little like Rush and Rachel's, but it didn't have near as many weapons. It had a large rifle on its back, attached to it was a scope. The Gundam knelt down, as if the pilot was exiting the mobile suit. Rush looked for something to use as a weapon do defend him and Rachel. The hatch opened, a young man appeared, wearing a USC spacesuit.  
"Hello there," said the man, his voice belonging to that of a man no more than 20, maybe less.  
"Who are you?" questioned Rush, easing up a little in his overall posture.  
"I'm Janus," informed the man, "This," he said, knocking against his suit, "is Gundam Eclipse, sniper extraordinaire."  
Rush eyed the mobile suit, looking at every last detail, taking it in.  
"Do you think you can help us out?" questioned Rachel, as Janus began walking in her direction.  
"Of course," replied Janus, still wearing his helmet, denying Rush or Rachel a look at his face.


	20. Chapter 20

Pvt. Andrew Jenkins looked around the interior of the dropship, nothing but cold steel, unforgiving. He checked his standard issue USC AWS (Assault Weapon System), A 3-in-1 package, containing a bullup design 7.62mm assault rifle, 10 gauge automatic shotgun, and a 4-shot rotating 40mm grenade launcher. He slid the rifle magazine back into the gun and chambered a round, getting ready for what was to come. He set his rifle on his lap and took out a photograph of his family. He eyed it for a moment, reflecting on what he was missing at home.  
Another Trooper stepped out of the cockpit, dressed in the same armor as Jenkins, making him look at least twice his size, yet surprisingly comfortable. Having a nearly full suit of armor would protect them from almost every infantry weapon the EMF Marines could throw at them, but the USC Troopers are far better equipped and better trained. The Trooper had sergeant stripes on his armor, as well as red accents, a custom job by him, like war stripes.  
"Listen up, ladies," Sarge said in a gruff voice, "The EMF is throwing a party, and you're invited."  
"Hell yeah, Sarge," said one of the Troopers close to the drop door on the other side of the ship.  
The Trooper on the right of Jenkins leaned over and looked at his picture.  
"That your family?" questioned Sanchez, his face hidden by his full helmet, just like the rest of the Troopers.  
"Yeah," replied Jenkins, "Soon as this all over with, I am staying at home."  
"Won't we all?" said Sanchez with a laugh.  
Sarge stepped in there direction.  
"Cut the chit-chat," He ordered, preparing himself for a speech.  
Jenkins stuffed the picture in his pocket, the only one not occupied by ammunition of any kind.  
"Who are we?" Sarge asked, getting his men riled up.  
"USC Troopers, Sergeant!" the replied in unison.  
"What do we do?" Sarge continued.  
"Kill, Kill, Kill, Sergeant!" they did in the same fashion.  
"How?" Sarge kept going, getting his men ready for their drop into hell.  
"Shoot 'em in the head, shoot 'em in the head, Sergeant!" his men replied with emotion.  
"Who's the best?" said the Sarge, almost finished.  
"USC Troopers, Sergeant!" they replied louder than before.  
"I can't hear you," Sarge said, loving it  
"USC TROOPERS, Sergeant!" they screamed at the top of their lungs.  
"Glad to hear it," Sarge finished, "'soon as that door opens, give 'em hell."  
"OOOOOH YEAH!" screamed another Trooper, ready to take it to the EMF Marines.  
The dropship neared its destination, slowing down and descending into a clearing that looked like a city park. The Earth had been basically converted into one large city, only a few places were uninhabited, the rest was sprawling metropolis, making it even easier for the USC to attack, their infantry is the best at urban assault. Jenkins grabbed his rifle, activated his HUD in his helmet, and braced himself for the landing. The ship thudded on the ground, shaking everything in the infantry hold. The door released and slammed to the ground, the Troopers running out before it had even touched the Earth below. Jenkins took a knee, just as the rest, setting up a makeshift perimeter for defense until everyone was off of the dropships. The door lifted and the ships took off, leaving behind roughly 30 Troopers in an area controlled by EMF Marines by the hundreds. Sarge was the last off of the dropship Jenkins was in, he crept over to him, taking a knee as the rest of the platoon did.  
"Your green, aren't you, Private?" questioned Sarge, whispering to him.  
"Yes, Sergeant," replied Jenkins, following protocol.  
"You won't be after this," Sarge stated, "just keep your cool, keep your head up and your ass down and there will be no problems."  
"Got it, Sergeant," Jenkins replied again, watching his field of fire.  
Sarge motioned for Sanchez to come over. Sanchez did so, taking a knee next to Sarge and Jenkins.  
"Yes, Sergeant?" Sanchez questioned.  
"You're leading second squad," replied Sarge, "I have first."  
"Yes, Sergeant," obeyed Sanchez, creeping through the trees to the second group of Troopers set down only a few meters away.  
"Com check, Troopers," Sarge ordered on the team frequency.  
His HUD filled up with dots that double flashed above each Trooper's head.  
"Good," Sarge commented, "form up with you squad leader, spread out, watch for any enemy activity."  
Jenkins was second from point, right behind Sarge, making their way to the street next to the park. Sarge signaled for a "Danger zone", being caught out in the open was a soldier's worst fear in Urban Assault. The set up defensively, allowing Troopers to cross, one at a time, to the building across the 4-lane wide street, which was empty of civilian population due to forced evacuation by the EMF. Civilian cars were parked, but again, empty, making the area feel like a ghost-town. Jenkins was now at the end of the formation, making sure everyone else was across before he crossed. He jogged across, his gear slowing him down only a little due to the new materials the USC had used to make equipment out of, especially the AWS. The AWS would be impractically heavy if it weren't for the new materials the USC created. Jenkins continued his jog, clearing the road, and pressing his back against the building wall on the other side. Sarge signaled that he heard something down the alley. Jenkins peeked around the corner. He saw 2 EMF Marines, basic infantry, walking down the alley with now disregard that there is the slight possibility that an enemy could be in the area. Jenkins could hear them talking.  
"Why do we always get the shit patrols?" questioned one, kicking a rock that rolled past Jenkins' foot.  
"I don't know," replied the other, holding his gun with one hand up in the air, supported by the carrying strap around his arm.  
"I think our C.0. hates us for some reason," commented the first, scuffing his boots across the ground, making all kinds of noise.  
"Because you slept with his daughter on her visit maybe?" inquired the other.  
"Probably," the first said with a grin, relinquishing the moment he had with her.  
Jenkins signaled for shotguns to be used, since they were walking towards them, rifles would be too powerful at that close of a range and go all the way through the target. The 2 inept Marines neared closer, only one could effectively retaliate because the other had his assault rifle pointed in the air. The Marines were close enough for Jenkins to touch, but they weren't paying any attention to the Troopers on either side of the alley against the walls, waiting for them.  
"It's not like the USC is dumb enough to attack anyways, we have this sector secure," commented the first, his back to Jenkins.  
Jenkins stuck his muzzle of his gun in his back and said:  
"Think again, asshole," He pulled the trigger, firing a 10 ga. round into his back, spewing a fountain of blood out his chest. The Marine was dead before he hit the ground. The other who had his gun in the air, turned to see his friend's guts be blown out his chest.  
"What the f-" he was cut short by an AWS butt to the back of the head from Sarge.  
"Messy, aren't we, Jenkins?" questioned Sarge, looking at the blood splattered from the shotgun blast, the Marine's intestines were visible from the exit wound.  
"Sorry, Sergeant," Jenkins replied, switching his AWS back to assault rifle mode.  
"Hide the bodies, let's go," Sarge ordered over the squad's frequency.  
"1 is still alive though, Sergeant," informed one of the Troopers.  
Sarge fired a 3 round burst into the Marine's head, causing an explosion of flesh and blood inside of the Marine's helmet, splattering the Trooper.  
"Not anymore, let's go," repeated the Sarge in the same manner, leading his men down the alley.


End file.
